Widgetopia

agreable

Found on Banlieusardises

A simple and agreable navigation schema: secondary areas as links above, key areas in a demi-tab arrangement, and a breadcrumb just in case. Translation button probably would have been better off as text than a squished image, but it's visible and located well. and omnipresent.

place

found on earthlink, seen on the homepage

and on a leaf page.

This navigation bar combines global with local, which is typically a fine proposition. however, today seems to be my day to be puzzled.

Question: why not make the "on state" tab the same color as the page, allowing a clear connection (I've seen in usability this makes the tab stand out and helps with wayfinding.) the leakey blue is weak. perhaps with a stronger sense of state, they wouldn't have to use the huge header to let users know where they are.

I'm bewildered by the changing state of the hierarchy-- is high speed in store or in home? Why is "member center" orange? what the heck is "switch"?

Go back to the drawing board, earthlink. and this time hire an IA.

expando

see larger version

from business week magazine

At Yahoo!, a designer I work with calls everything that opens up on mouseover "expando" which makes these expando tabs, and the previous breadcrumb entry, expando-breadcrumbs.

First, let me say as tabs go, these are pretty good ones. They have a nice tab shape, the separate types of content, and important-yet-oft-overlooked, the on-state is the same color and connected ot the modified item, connecting the tab to the thing classified.

Now on to expando: saves space. doesn't work on everyone's computer (because it requires javascript), but clicking the tab brings you to the top level category, and the sub-items in the expando are repeated on the left (though that design is rather week) so like the expando-breadcrumbs I'd cry no harm, no foul.

small extra note: article tools are handled very subtly (caught as a bonus in their screenshot) and arrows pointing to text links.

art and ew

Found on ADAM, the Art, Design, Architecture & Media Information Gateway

Gee I didn't know browsing was iconified by lightning. In my experience, it's not much like lightning... though it's occasionally shocking.

Other icons all strong except the pencil (let's save that for edit or compose, please!)-- the a for about, the heart for friends, and a great map icon.

The white/green background seems like it just confuses matters... visual noise.

on-state

from Orbitz

I noticed this navigation and was attracted to its representation of state-- the exploded tab is really noticable, clear and different from the norm. I think it's a nifty little success.

navigate art

from the met's timeline of art

Maybe I'm just a sucker for the good looking, but this navigation is nice. Simple, the icons are clear and helpful (though couldn't stand alone without the text) and it suits an elegant site.

on-state

Found on the subsite of KQED Jacques Pépin: The Apprentice. Very clear state, but navigation doesn't read as navigation, and buttons provide poor affordance.