Why the Hamburger Menu is a Dying Trend

After almost two years of believing hamburger menus are the greatest menu display option for mobile, I have officially begun shifting away from them and on to more UX friendly and more importantly, more accessible menu options. Let me tell you why.

What’s in Your Makeup Bag? a hamburger menu example

Pretty much every personal project I have worked on to date has had some version of a hamburger menu when it comes to the mobile version of the project. While there is certainly a value to the hamburger menu, I have begun to realize a fair bit of accessibility and UX flaws that also come along with the ever-popular menu style. Let’s break down a few of the pros and cons that I’ve discovered through research :)

PROS:

• takes up a minimal amount of space, ideal for smaller screens
• multiple variations of the hamburger menu, allowing for a unique look and feel to your app through customization
• tons of animations that can be applied
• It has become a highly recognizable menu style, allowing for a higher likelihood of people understanding how to interact with it, even during their first visit to a new site

Trending GoBeyond.ai articles:

1. Top 15 Magento 2 Extensions For Your E-Commerce Site

2. How Free Influencers Took My Brand To Global Success

3. There’s Nothing Wrong With a Good Old Department Store

4. The Retail Apocalypse is Old News. Now What?

CONS:

• The hamburger menu is typically placed at the top left or right side of a mobile screen, which makes it a bit harder for the user to reach
• The menu is completely hidden from the user until they click on the menu icon which can be confusing
• There are multiple steps the user has to do in order to engage with this type of menu — a huge benefit of mobile devices is the convenience and speed at which you can use them, so tacking on unnecessary and potentially unclear steps can be an accessibility issue

The above is just a quick and dirty list of a few pros and cons surrounding the hamburger menu, but there are many more reasons why there is a shift happening, as well as many more detailed articles surrounding this trend. With new design ideas coming into play, my personal favourite has become the tab menu. I recently updated my portfolio to include the tab menu and find it to be much more accessible, more UX friendly, and in my opinion, actually looks nicer than the hamburger icon! Try Googling around for alternative menu options to find what your favourite is :)

My portfolio — a tab menu example

Don’t forget to give us your 👏 !