Navigation and menus: visible or hidden.
The way to structure the menu directly influences whether customers can discover your content.
Navigation should be visible immediately, not hidden behind a three-line icon on desktop. Research from the Nielsen Norman Group confirms that hidden menus make it harder for customers to find what they need, are slower, and result in fewer goal completions compared to visible menus. The three-line menu is only an acceptable solution on mobile due to limited screen space, not a standard to apply across all devices.
- Content-rich pages need navigation that is visible and easy to find
- A broad content tree or one that can still be expanded, needs a vertical sidebar on the left.
- want a menu that both guides and introduces the business
- Transfer the mobile three-line menu to the desktop when there is extra space.
- Hide the most important items behind a hidden menu.
Website navigation is not just a map; it is also the first time customers understand what your business does and what it offers. Hiding the menu means hiding those suggestions as well. Sinh Vũ establishes the navigation structure right from the information architecture stage, before starting to design the interface, because the menu is not something that can be added later.
Why navigation must be visible
Research by the Nielsen Norman Group directly measuring real users shows that hiding navigation makes it harder for customers, takes more time, and results in fewer completed tasks compared to when navigation is visible. This holds true on both mobile and desktop.
The reason is not complex. When the menu is readily available, customers can quickly grasp how many areas the business has, what each area is called, and where they should go next. When they have to click to open it, customers lose all that context before they can decide whether to click.
Choose a horizontal menu or a vertical menu on the left.
Horizontal menu, showing all items: Suitable when the number of main items is few, label names are short, and the screen is wide enough to display everything in one row. This is a popular choice for business introduction pages or simple landing pages.
Vertical menu on the left: Suitable when the content tree is wide or continues to expand. A vertical bar allows for more items without overflow, pushing important keywords to the top of each label for quick scanning, and always visible when customers scroll down.
The simple way to choose: count the number of high-level items. For few items, use horizontal layout. For many items or those that will continue to develop, use vertical layout on the left.
Three-line menu: use it appropriately, do not overuse
The hamburger menu, also known as the three-line menu, is a necessary solution for mobile due to the limited screen space. On phones, this is an accepted choice. However, even on mobile, the most important items should be displayed openly rather than hidden within the menu.
A common mistake is to directly transfer this menu style to the desktop screen, where there is enough space to display sufficient navigation. A frequent reason is that design prioritizes "looking neat" over "being user-friendly." It may look neat, but if customers cannot explore the content, the website fails to do its job.
The menu also serves as evidence of content breadth and helps customers understand what the business does. Hiding it loses those contextual hints.
Nielsen Norman Group, Menu-Design Checklist: 17 UX Guidelines
Common mistakes when ordering menus
- Ambiguous menu labels: Item names like "Solutions" or "Services" do not convey anything specific. Customers have to guess where each item leads, creating unnecessary friction.
- Too many items at the same level, not grouped: When all items are placed at the same level, customers spend extra effort scanning and categorizing. Group related items under a common heading.
- Important keywords at the end of the label: Clients scan from left to right. Important words should be at the beginning of the label name, not at the end.
- Hide the most important item: If your core service requires clicking to reveal, that is not minimal design but rather making things difficult for your business.
The viewpoint of Sinh Vũ
Sinh Vũ does not separate navigation from the page structure. The menu is designed simultaneously with the content tree, as these two reflect each other. If the menu looks cluttered, it is often because the content structure has not been organized clearly, not because of a lack of a new effect style.
For each project, Sinh Vũ asks: where do customers want to go, and does the current menu lead them there? The answer determines the shape of the menu, not the current design trends.
Decision checklist
Topic: How to make navigation and menus user-friendly. Sinh Vũ guide, sinhvu.com
Select each item you find appropriate, then print or save as PDF to take with you.
If you have marked most of the signs above, this is the time to discuss in more detail. Sinh Vũ can help you review and propose a direction.
References
Nielsen Norman Group, Hamburger Menus and Hidden Navigation Hurt UX Metrics; Nielsen Norman Group, Menu-Design Checklist: 17 UX Guidelines; Nielsen Norman Group, Left-Side Vertical Navigation on Desktop. Practical experience from Sinh Vũ Studio.
Frequently asked questions
Is the hamburger menu really bad?
Not aesthetically bad, but ineffective on desktop. On mobile, this is an acceptable solution due to the small screen. The issue is that many design teams carry this style over to larger screens unnecessarily, causing customers to take an extra step to see navigation. If there is enough screen space, the menu should be displayed immediately.
I have too many items and can't display them all. What should I do?
This is a sign that the content structure needs to be reviewed before deciding on the menu. Instead of cramming everything into a single horizontal row, you can group related items into fewer higher-level groups or switch to vertical navigation on the left, which is more suitable for a broad content tree. The solution is to reorganize, not to hide.