Forum Moderators: phranque
So, I took a quick, informal survey of blog design and came up with 16 out of 19 blogs using a design that puts the menu to the right side of the page.
I've been told that the usual user expectation of where to find a menu is on the left, but I don't believe that's true any longer.
When I go to a site, I always end up looking to the right first. Maybe blogs have ruined me for traditional website design and layout. But doesn't it seem natural that with blogs being so popular that they'll impact what people expect to see when they end up on a web page?
Is the left side of the web page still the most user friendly place to put a vertical menu?
A few big site have switched to the right side. It's hard to say, may depend on the audience. I find I don't really mind either way, just shift to wherever it is.
Anyone done any studies?
The last Neilson report which I read about this, based on a cross-section study of users with eye-tracking systems, concluded that viewers read in an "F" pattern down the page (so left to right, with diminishing attention span the further down the page you go):-
[blogs.zdnet.com...]
Neilson has also indicated previously that users expect to see navigation on the left or at the top and search box top right.
However, I think you're absolutely right to question these "adopted" standards. They're not gospel - peoples habits do change depending on the environment shown to them, and the blogosphere might indeed be changing that environment.
If the "F" figure user pattern is indeed correct, I would think that's a pretty strong argument for putting Navigation at the right, content at the left?
TJ
I'm right-handed and for me, it meant I could zip through the pages of the sites without a lot of movement of my mouse. Click, scroll, click scroll.
Then I started reading about usability and decided that maybe I had it wrong. So, I flirted with the idea of left side menus.
Then blogs came along and many, many sites have begun to use right side menus (when they use a verical menu) and now I begin to think it really is a matter of personal preference, unless you specifically know something about your users that says you need to use a specific format/layout.
At least that's my thinking on it at the moment.
As for the site I was laying out yesterday, I chose a left side menu, because I have a top menu that is aligned to the right, and I have inset submenus I have placed on the right for quick access to more specific content. I believe I've created a nicely middle-ground design.
As for blog design, it does throw me off as a user when the menu is on the left. My informal survey probably explains why.
Has anyone noticed specifically that they have different expectations when they're at a blog-style website than if they were at a traditionally-styled website (especially those with similar content, because that might give the best comparison)?
I think Blogs are influencing designers/developers and not users more than anything. I've noticed a spate of sites cropping up that look and feel like blogs but aren't blogs.
Just a fad in my opinion.
Edit: I personally prefer a horizontal nav placement just beneath the header with all the vital links, text and tabbed preferably with less important links placed on the left in a "site options" box or a dropdown menu.
But because most of the sites I develop/work on are content sites the need for "site options" boxes/dropdown menus are becoming less of a frequency as things like mail a friend, print, bookmark etc. can be applied to specific pages that house the content (i.e. an article for example).
