Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

by Krug Steve

Tabs are one of the very few cases where using a physical metaphor in a user interface actually works. Like the tab dividers in a three-ring binder or tabs on folders in a file drawer, they divide whatever they’re sticking out of into sections. And they make it easy to open a section by reaching for its tab (or, in the case of the Web, clicking on it). I think they’re an excellent and underused navigation choice. Here’s why I like them: They’re self-evident. I’ve never seen anyone—no matter how “computer illiterate”—look at a tabbed interface and say, “Hmmm. I wonder what those do?” They’re hard to miss. When I do usability tests, I’m surprised at how often people can overlook horizontal navigation bars at the top of a Web page. But tabs are so visually distinctive that they’re hard to overlook. And because they’re hard to mistake for anything but navigation, they create the kind of obvious-at-a-glance division you want between navigation and content. They’re slick. Web designers are always struggling to make pages more visually interesting. If done correctly, tabs can add polish and serve a useful purpose. If you’re going to use tabs, though, you have to do them right.