I like the trend taking place where more often, designers are going with more of a web app UI, such as the nav above. I think it offers better usability and a better experience.
I strongly agree with your comments about mystery meat navigation (credit going to Vincent Flanders of www.webpagesthatsuck.com for introducing that term). Very few icons are truly standard (home, email, and maybe one or two others), but they're all more ambiguous than words, and they all add visual clutter. The goal isn't design for its own sake, it's to make the website as easy for the visitor to use as possible.
6 Comments Posted
their site is nice but likewise, im not a fan of the top nav..
1. Posted by Evan Skuthorpe on August 23, 2010
Great looking site, but why would you want to make your users (and search engines) guess where your pages are is beyond me? Thanks for posting though.
2. Posted by Web Design Leeds on August 23, 2010
If I shrink the window, (useful) stuff goes off the edge, no scroll. Gah!
3. Posted by Michael Howell on August 24, 2010
I think when you can have really obvious metaphors for the icons (home & email are always fine) they stop being mystery meat.
Problem is when you start using a microphone for a venue, and your ticket looks like a razor blade.
I'd wager that they were all obvious icons at design stage, but just before launch less obvious one's were added.
4. Posted by John Braine on August 26, 2010
I like the trend taking place where more often, designers are going with more of a web app UI, such as the nav above. I think it offers better usability and a better experience.
5. Posted by George on August 26, 2010
I strongly agree with your comments about mystery meat navigation (credit going to Vincent Flanders of www.webpagesthatsuck.com for introducing that term). Very few icons are truly standard (home, email, and maybe one or two others), but they're all more ambiguous than words, and they all add visual clutter. The goal isn't design for its own sake, it's to make the website as easy for the visitor to use as possible.
6. Posted by Peter Kassan on September 09, 2010