ItвЂ™s important to thoughtfully consider the hamburger menuвЂ™s use, rather than choosing it automatically because itвЂ™s trendy, or вЂthatвЂ™s what everyone does.вЂ™ДЄnd to that point, IвЂ™ll close with my favorite design argument: вЂњBut XYZ Huge Company does it.вЂќ Hidden navigation is very often harmful to the user, though any design choice must always be considered within the overall context of the appвЂ™s goals and end users. Navigation is a vital part of usability, and deserves careful thought and consideration. Moral of the story: think before you burger. There are tons more examples of the hamburger flip-flip on this great post from Luke Wroblewski. IвЂ™d be interested to know the analytics and/or user insights that drove these changes, and how their current design is performing in comparison. Though their mobile app used to feature a hamburger menu, their most recent iteration has moved away from that, and now uses a tab bar. LetвЂ™s take a closer look at a few different solutions to mobile navigation, and the pros and cons of each design.Д®BayвЂ™s current mobile app (left) features tabbed navigation, a move away from the hamburger menu, as seen in their 4.0 app (right)Д®Bay, like Amazon, sells a bazillion things. Live Examples: When ItвЂ™s Okay, and When It IsnвЂ™t Spoiler alert: there arenвЂ™t as many as youвЂ™d think. So, I did a little investigation to see what other major companies use a hamburger in their mobile apps. This is especially so if the trend in question applies to primary navigation. ItвЂ™s dangerous to implement any design trend without considering if that choice makes sense in context of the app experience and its users. The hamburger menu is one of those trends that designers often donвЂ™t question often enough they just do it without further ideation.

Do they understand that three horizontal stacked lines means menu? Have they interacted with a hamburger menu before and is that experience extensive enough for them to quickly understand what it means?

With any project, your design choices should be informed by a strong understanding of the people youвЂ™re designing for. Though a hamburger menu can visually simplify a design, it complicates the app structurally because it obscures information behind three little lines that provide no information scent. On the other hand, this requires that the user do more work to move between sections of the app, increasing the interaction cost to the user. The Pros and ConsДЄ hamburger menu is great because it saves a lot of screen space, which allows for a simple, clean design. Was I wrong? The designer reviewing my work was more experienced than I was, but I felt certain that a hamburger menu was the wrong way to go.

For the specific app I was working on, the content was not complex enough to warrant a hamburger menu.ДЄfter this conversation, I couldnвЂ™t stop thinking about it. I briefly explained that the hamburger menu obscured navigation and made it harder for users to find what theyвЂ™re looking for. I paused for a second as I asked myself, вЂWhy didnвЂ™t I do that?вЂ™ It almost felt like a trick question. Recently, I was reviewing my work on a mobile app with another designer, when he asked me why I didnвЂ™t use a hamburger menu for the appвЂ™s main navigation.

Hamburger stack menu