Most websites that are content heavy require a detailed information architecture system that involves many category tiers. This may be fairly easy to display on a desktop, via dropdown menus or mega menus, but the smaller screen size on a mobile device is a huge limitation when it comes to showing these subcategories. Some sites can have up to 30 or more subcategories in their menus, which can be displayed comfortably in their mega menus without requiring users to scroll or click through to another display. This, however, becomes a big problem when the menu is being shown on mobile- how will all these categories fit onto a single screen without becoming a ridiculously long list? Furthermore, some of the visual structure seen on a desktop site may be lost on a mobile site, eg. seeing two or more subcategories at the same time. This becomes a huge challenge for any UX/UI design firm trying to convert designs from desktop to mobile. Subnavigation: This refers to the navigation UI that allows users to find and access subcategories and sub subcategories in the site’s information architecture. Make the following your design goals when you’re designing for subnavigation:
2. Typical-path support: The sub navigation should be designed in such a way that it supports what a typical user would do on the site. If the user is likely to jump from one section of the site to another completely different section, the subnavigation should enable this. However, if the user is likely to stay on that single section (such as the lifestyle section of a news site), then this tendency should be supported. 3. Discoverability: Simply put, the sub navigation UI should be found easily, with little distraction. Types of sub navigation on mobile In general, there are four main types of subnavigation menus for mobile:
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