3 Navigation Mistakes To Avoid In Web Design

Mazes are fun, but try making your way out of a fairly complex one and they won’t seem fun anymore. Just downright frustrating.

A web design should therefore be everything that a maze is not. It should show visitors where they need to go and what to do to get there. There is a good reason for this.

If users can’t find what they are looking for in your website or web application, they will leave. Plain and simple.

In this article, we will talk about the navigational DONT’s which designers should keep in mind for an effective user journey.

Making Navigation Difficult:

What’s easier than allowing users to shop by categories on an ecommerce website? Give them a search bar which they can use to find specific items and jump to those pages directly.

There are two benefits to making navigation easy like this: 

It makes people use your app or website more
It makes the way clear for desirable actions which increases conversions

Making navigational trails consistent: 

 
People who navigate from one website to another, owned by the same brand, expect navigational elements to either be the same or close to the direction they were following.

If menu items aren’t clear enough or look different on each page, it might confuse visitors and prompt them to leave.

To spare visitors from having to re-orient their bearings on different websites, keep basic navigational elements consistent.

Giving Users Too Many Options:

Give someone a few choices, and they will make decisions fast. Give visitors too many options, and they will take twice as long to make a decision.

This is why a menu bar with two or three options will receive more attention than a bar that requires visitors to scroll down to make their choice amongst eight or more options.

Keep Main Navigation Options in Familiar Areas:

In design, especially considering apps that have the same purpose (social media websites) familiarity increases engagement.

It’s why social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, place the comment bar right at the top of the page. Designers know that this is where new users will look when they want to post something on their news feeds.

Use familiar symbols:

There is a lot of areas to be creative in design but navigation is not one of them. Good design doesn’t make visitors think.

Avoid confusing users by using standard navigation formats (shopping trolley for Add to Cart or magnifying glass for the search bar) in your design.

The more intuitive the navigation of your web or app design, the better. To validate your user flows, look at your design from the perspective of the people who will actually be using your product for user testing.