i tend to always assume visitors to clients sites are the noobiest of noobys (no offense intended) and try to make navigation as easy as possible by providing the basic visual cues - it adds that fullproof layer of usability
yes to logo link & home link
make it easy for ur visitors ;)
lostsync - 15 years ago
I personally, though I know logos almost always take you home, look for a link in the navigation and am mildly frustrated when I don't find one. I can only imagine how Joe User must feel in this same situation (something like: "ZOMG WTFH?1").
Personally I try to have both since there are both types of users, logo-clicking and home-clicking people. When the number of links in the navigation starts to grow to big, exceeding an easy-to-grasp level, I consider shrinking the home link to an icon of some very clear nature. When leaving the home button out there is always the fallback solution to introduce a bread-crumb navigation, which could include the home link as well.
@ Kristian Bjørnard: In a lot of cases it does not make sense to be that radical. Think about e-commerce sites. Your customer might not want to loose even a single percent of potential clients by not having an „out-of-date“ link to a homepage. The same principle applies to the IE6 fallbacks. I don't like that lifetime-shortening piece of you know what as little as anyone else, but a lot of people still use it and have no choice to switch since their employer / IT department simply will not switch. Do you really feel that those people should be locked out? I don't think so. The question is, could they live with some minor design flaws in IE6, probably yes.
I know I *ought* to include home links, but I don't like them. I try to make my navigation extremely obvious, and adjacent to the logo/banner/etc. so that it should be easy to figure out to click on the logo. But navigational real-estate is often so precious...
I would go so far as to say that excluding a home link in order to let the rest of your navigation "breathe" a bit is more important than including the link for "usability"... Savvy users will know to click on the logo, but might balk at cluttered, unfriendly navigation.
Unsavvy users might miss the link on the logo, but IMO they're less likely to complain about a missing home page link. I've stood over the shoulders of some such users, and they're perfectly acquainted with the process of re-finding the home page, even if it means going back to Google and repeating their original search.
I think there should definitely be a link back to home in the main nav, but if we're tight on room in the main nav then we'll put it up into the 'utilities' menu on the top right of the page. The logo should def be linked... If so easy to put one and 9/10 isn't going to effect a design. Convention can be good for things like navigation - which by now many experienced web users scan and use in auto pilot. I don't much like the word 'home' either but I'm not going to invent something else based on my personal preferences and potentially make my visitor think harder than necessary and divert attention away from what they're for.
I typically use a home link. My navigation bar just doesn't look right without "home" at the top... There are exceptions, but it just seems right for "home" to be there.
To a large extent, it depends on the design, both visual and information, as well as your target audience. While I personally try to avoid using "Home" links in primary navigation (though I do like to include it in the "you are here" link), if I'm looking to target mid-to-lower (experience) level users, it's hard to make an argument against it.
"simply because usability research has consistently demonstrated that visitors expect this."
The key word here is the first: simply. Developers and designers need to be thinking more about why we do things. Doing a thing "simply" because we have done it that way in the past should not be enough. Certainly you do not want to make it difficult for users to use your site, and you can argue that removing the "Home" link does this, but failing to think about it each time you do it is a slippery slope. Even citing usability research can be a dodgy proposition: What age groups expect the "home" link? Are there regional trends? How does the type of site affect expectations? Does site size affect expectations?
So, I'm not advocating one way or another. I "simply" think that we should be carefully considering these kinds of questions with each design and implementation, and that universal yes/no responses to this kind of question may be worse than useless... except mine, of course ;)
I know from watching users in higher ed, you've still got a lot of non-native users who honestly can't figure out how to get back "home" without a home link. So, it depends— If there's valuable content on the home page, I try to have Home + Logo links, if it's just a portal, I'll skip the Home link.
The home link is out-of-date. I leave it out of as many designs as I possibly can— unless the client specifically request it. It is time we stop catering to the lowest common denominator... so get rid of the “home” link, and stop using IE6 as a base design reference.
As Rodrigo's said before, logo link is standard. I keep "home" out of the menu when there isn't enough space for it, so it depends on the design. However, I always try to include it.
Definitely need a home link, only using the logo introduces unnecessary usability and (depending on how it's done) accessibility issues. Give the punter what they want!
If there is no link "home" i definately will press on logo in order to get back to homepage.
If there are "home" - usualy use it. It is impel to more direct action with predictable result and without thinkinkg.
garet - 15 years ago
Usability studies indicate that a significant percentage of users are not aware that the logo often links back to the homepage - hence the advantage of having "home" as a nav item.
Personally I think the logo should be enough, but a lot of clients insists on having a "home" button (because they fear their users don't know the logo works like home). So very often I put in a home button - though i almost always call it something else (Front page is a good word)
i think, logo or header link is important, usually we just click the header if wanna go to homepage. and "home"-link will lead user who often "plays" with navigation, :)
I think both Logo and home line is a necessary. It provides accessibility to the user. Also it helps the user think less and see an action without having to move the cursor over the logo to get a action. Meaning the cursor to pop up for them to understand its a button.
i tend to always assume visitors to clients sites are the noobiest of noobys (no offense intended) and try to make navigation as easy as possible by providing the basic visual cues - it adds that fullproof layer of usability
yes to logo link & home link
make it easy for ur visitors ;)
I personally, though I know logos almost always take you home, look for a link in the navigation and am mildly frustrated when I don't find one. I can only imagine how Joe User must feel in this same situation (something like: "ZOMG WTFH?1").
Personally I try to have both since there are both types of users, logo-clicking and home-clicking people. When the number of links in the navigation starts to grow to big, exceeding an easy-to-grasp level, I consider shrinking the home link to an icon of some very clear nature. When leaving the home button out there is always the fallback solution to introduce a bread-crumb navigation, which could include the home link as well.
@ Kristian Bjørnard: In a lot of cases it does not make sense to be that radical. Think about e-commerce sites. Your customer might not want to loose even a single percent of potential clients by not having an „out-of-date“ link to a homepage. The same principle applies to the IE6 fallbacks. I don't like that lifetime-shortening piece of you know what as little as anyone else, but a lot of people still use it and have no choice to switch since their employer / IT department simply will not switch. Do you really feel that those people should be locked out? I don't think so. The question is, could they live with some minor design flaws in IE6, probably yes.
I know I *ought* to include home links, but I don't like them. I try to make my navigation extremely obvious, and adjacent to the logo/banner/etc. so that it should be easy to figure out to click on the logo. But navigational real-estate is often so precious...
I would go so far as to say that excluding a home link in order to let the rest of your navigation "breathe" a bit is more important than including the link for "usability"... Savvy users will know to click on the logo, but might balk at cluttered, unfriendly navigation.
Unsavvy users might miss the link on the logo, but IMO they're less likely to complain about a missing home page link. I've stood over the shoulders of some such users, and they're perfectly acquainted with the process of re-finding the home page, even if it means going back to Google and repeating their original search.
I think there should definitely be a link back to home in the main nav, but if we're tight on room in the main nav then we'll put it up into the 'utilities' menu on the top right of the page. The logo should def be linked... If so easy to put one and 9/10 isn't going to effect a design. Convention can be good for things like navigation - which by now many experienced web users scan and use in auto pilot. I don't much like the word 'home' either but I'm not going to invent something else based on my personal preferences and potentially make my visitor think harder than necessary and divert attention away from what they're for.
Yes I agree, home is a part of the navigation menu, and should be left in.
I typically use a home link. My navigation bar just doesn't look right without "home" at the top... There are exceptions, but it just seems right for "home" to be there.
To a large extent, it depends on the design, both visual and information, as well as your target audience. While I personally try to avoid using "Home" links in primary navigation (though I do like to include it in the "you are here" link), if I'm looking to target mid-to-lower (experience) level users, it's hard to make an argument against it.
"simply because usability research has consistently demonstrated that visitors expect this."
The key word here is the first: simply. Developers and designers need to be thinking more about why we do things. Doing a thing "simply" because we have done it that way in the past should not be enough. Certainly you do not want to make it difficult for users to use your site, and you can argue that removing the "Home" link does this, but failing to think about it each time you do it is a slippery slope. Even citing usability research can be a dodgy proposition: What age groups expect the "home" link? Are there regional trends? How does the type of site affect expectations? Does site size affect expectations?
So, I'm not advocating one way or another. I "simply" think that we should be carefully considering these kinds of questions with each design and implementation, and that universal yes/no responses to this kind of question may be worse than useless... except mine, of course ;)
-c
I know from watching users in higher ed, you've still got a lot of non-native users who honestly can't figure out how to get back "home" without a home link. So, it depends— If there's valuable content on the home page, I try to have Home + Logo links, if it's just a portal, I'll skip the Home link.
The home link is out-of-date. I leave it out of as many designs as I possibly can— unless the client specifically request it. It is time we stop catering to the lowest common denominator... so get rid of the “home” link, and stop using IE6 as a base design reference.
I put both simply because usability research has consistently demonstrated that visitors expect this.
My grand-father would be lost if i took the "home" link out of my designs...
Whenever possible, I use both. If not, then I'll atleast use a 'Home' link.
As Rodrigo's said before, logo link is standard. I keep "home" out of the menu when there isn't enough space for it, so it depends on the design. However, I always try to include it.
Definitely need a home link, only using the logo introduces unnecessary usability and (depending on how it's done) accessibility issues. Give the punter what they want!
If there is no link "home" i definately will press on logo in order to get back to homepage.
If there are "home" - usualy use it. It is impel to more direct action with predictable result and without thinkinkg.
Usability studies indicate that a significant percentage of users are not aware that the logo often links back to the homepage - hence the advantage of having "home" as a nav item.
Personally I think the logo should be enough, but a lot of clients insists on having a "home" button (because they fear their users don't know the logo works like home). So very often I put in a home button - though i almost always call it something else (Front page is a good word)
i think, logo or header link is important, usually we just click the header if wanna go to homepage. and "home"-link will lead user who often "plays" with navigation, :)
I use both, as Rodrigo said, logo link leading to home page is a standard.
Logo links are a standard accessibility feature and should allways be used.
Using both Logo and Home is a good idea. Personally, I don't even touch a 'home' link except when there's no link in the logo.
I think both Logo and home line is a necessary. It provides accessibility to the user. Also it helps the user think less and see an action without having to move the cursor over the logo to get a action. Meaning the cursor to pop up for them to understand its a button.
What about...
Yes, Home Link only - not logo link?