[Sigia-l] DHTML Menus and Usability

[Lyle_Kantrovich at cargill.com]

Katie,

Here are some relevant resources:

Users Decide First; Move Second
http://world.std.com/~uieweb/Articles/whatTheyWantArticle.htm

Nielsen on cascading menus
http://www.webreference.com/new/011011.html

Cooper on navigation from "Navigating isn't fun"
"Yet many Web designers continue to divide, and divide again, their 
sites into many fractured pages. These hierarchical arrangements of 
screens force them to impose a navigational burden on their users."  
... "If you want to design simpler, better Websites for business or 
commerce, try putting more interaction into fewer screens so your users 
don't have to navigate so much."
http://www.cooper.com/newsletters/2001_10/navigating_isnt_fun.htm

A design pattern (with an alternative)
http://www.welie.com/patterns/fly-out-menu.html

A flying menu attack can wound your navigation
http://www.shorewalker.com/design/design116.html

Ten Top Sites Compared 
http://wdvl.internet.com/Authoring/Design/TopTen2001/ten1.html

Not much as far as research-based guidelines
http://www.usability.gov/guidelines/navigation.html

Seven tricks that Web users don't know (a link for others)
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/us-tricks/?dwzone=usability

Navigation 
Stress Test
http://keith.instone.org/navstress/

How about tabs?
http://www.bigfatsite.com/_articles_/2000-11-19-1.html

Some thoughts on menus in general
http://www.sapdesignguild.org/community/design/selection4.asp

Regards,

Lyle Kantrovich
User Experience Architect
Cargill 

Croc O' Lyle: personal commentary on usability, IA, and web design
http://crocolyle.blogspot.com