The Uber Header Arrives

by KEVIN SILVER :: OCT 30, 2008 :: COMMENTS (0)

IDEO recently launched a redesign of their website. I wonder if they're going to start a new trend: the Uber Header.

When we redesigned the Clearwired site, we wanted to make sure that there was always something for the user to do when they scrolled to the bottom of the page. This gave way to the birth of the Uber Footer, a cornucopia of information and links to other content within your site.

IDEO's Uber Header is slim in comparison to our Uber Footer, but it is indeed powerful and targeted: News and Most Viewed (great for this content rich site). My inclination was to always put information like this in a less conspicuous place on the page so it wouldn’t compete with the main content focus of the page. Also, placing it at the bottom of the page seems to be more inline with a users browsing flow and some of the recommendations made by Luke Wroblewski in his article found in the August issue of Interactions. In the article Luke proposes that "instead of presenting content as only part of the page, consider presenting it as part of the entire page." The IDEO site provides related content and context in the header of the site, dedicating the rest of the screen to content, pretty much in line with Luke’s recommendations, except it dominates the top of the page. Going against my design instincts the Uber Header in this case works really well and as designed does not visually dominate the rest of the content on the page.

Regardless of the Uber Footer or Uber Header debate one thing is certain, functionality and content rule the web. You need to keep people engaged on your website, drawing them in and allowing them to explore. Maybe they'll come across something that truly resonates with them. This helps to set the overall tone for a user's experience. Obviously, IDEO wants you to see what they are up to and dig into their site. Their story is in the content and the functionality is there to support a good browsing experience.

What do you think?

tags: CONTENT, UBER FOOTER, UBER HEADER, USER EXPERIENCE

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