Design Guidelines: Drop Down Menu’s

Drop down menu’s are an element from the traditional desktop that has found it’s way onto the web. One of the down sides of a drop down menu is that it drops down, hiding other items. Make sure that it isn’t hiding crucial information. Things to remember when using drop downs are:

• Make sure it is clear to the user that a menu is in fact a drop down menu.
• As with tabs, keep it short but also remember to use familiar terms.
• Use consistent naming when you are giving names to the items in your menu.
• Very important: Cluster related items together.
• Because the drop down was copied from the desktop, make sure it behaves the same way, your users will expect that.
• Nested menus are to be avoided. They are extremely hard to navigate.