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No.10 Pull-down Menus? (October 15, 2001)
Recently, major companies are increasingly incorporating pull-down menu navigation using DHTML, Java Script, and Flash, or other technologies on their websites.
 Example of navigation using pull-down menus
However, it is important to carefully consider the use of pull-down menus before using them on your site, since they can bring with them a variety of issues. We recommend using pull-down menus only after referring to the following explanation and gaining a correct understanding of their characteristics.
 Advantages of pull-down menus
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Using pull-down menus enables you to provide a greater number links in a small space. This is the reason pull-down menus are so commonly used on the top pages of major companies whose sites have a lot of content.
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Disadvantages of pull-down menus
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The three reasons below explain why pull-down menus not only serve no use to users, but how they can, in fact, be an obstacle to user behavior on a website.
- Not detectable
With pull-down menus, if a user does not perform a certain action (clicking or onmouse), the list of links will not appear. As a result the links cannot be found on the screen at first glance.
According to the results of a usability test, many beginners in particular, don't notice pull-down menus at all.
- Not comparable
A user compares multiple links on the screen and chooses where to go next. However, with pull-down menus, only the links in one category are displayed at a time and users are not able to view a list of all links.
As a result, using pull-down type navigation makes it difficult to compare links and impedes a user's ability to choose the right link.
- Decreased readability
With pull-down menus, lists can disappear with the slightest movement of the mouse, even if the user is in the middle of reading the list. Many pull-down menus are set to such a fast a speed for list display and hide that users can't take their time in choosing a link they want to click from a list.
By conducting an actual usability test, you'll find out just how stressful pull-down menus are to your users.
No. 4 Importance of Usability Testing
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Is it better not to use pull-down menus?
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Though their disadvantages are numerous, there are some cases in which it is appropriate to use pull-down menus.
When there is no need for a clear comparison between links contained in lists, such as a list of regional names, and all users want to do is find a target word, then the use of pull-down menus won't be stressful and can save space.
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Except for situations like the one described above, however, the disadvantages to using pull-down menus generally outweigh the advantages.
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