Are Mega Menus Really Heroic?

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, did it make a sound?  What if you have a feature that a user can’t find - does it really exist?

Hero menus (more formally known as mega menus) have become increasingly popular for large sites with many sections and pieces of information to put all of the options in front of the user at once.  E-commerce sites such as Whitehouse.gov, Box.com, Autism Speaks, and Whole Foods all utilize mega menus to display more context and additional levels of navigation.  The question becomes whether these mega menus are going to become the best choice for all websites or whether there is still place for the standard drop down, fly out, and accordion menus.  Jakob Nielsen may have blessed the mega menu but is it really the most usable of the options in your situation?

Attendees should have some experience considering how users should navigate through information.  Some knowledge of information architecture and user research would have been helpful but is not required.

During this session I will cover:
- The differences between mega menus and other navigational menu structures
- When the best time is to use each type of navigational menu structures
- How to determine your navigational needs
- Implications when considering the mobile first mindset
- Solutions for handling various navigation types in Drupal for mobile and desktop