Arguably one of the most used and important elements of any website design is the menu or navigation. The main menu is where users refer to when they want to navigate through the website. Therefore good navigation has a lot to answer for when it comes to creating successful usability in a website. And creating a menu that is not only easy to use but that enhances the look and feel of your website is something that can make all the difference to the overall usability of the site.

Website menus come in all shapes and sizes, colours and designs making them an interesting focus for this edition of Design Crush. There are many options when designing a menu; colour can be used to differentiate between options, icons can be used to make the menu options more easily identifiable or unique roll-over elements can be employed to add interest. There are many techniques you can employ when designing a menu, and putting in that extra detail can really make all the difference to the website design as a whole.

Here are a few examples of successful menu designs that I have come across recently:

Employing these different techniques can make it easier for you website menu to be well constructed, easily used and intuative. A well designed menu can encourage users to look through the website while a badly designed menu can put users off completely. Giving your site a unique and personal menu will not only keep users on your site but will add that all important sparkle that can set it apart from all the rest.