There has been a trend over the years, which is not particularly new, to remove the home button from website navigation. I’m not sure why this is, maybe it is to free up some space for other navigation options or maybe it is because there is an assumption that users understand the convention of making the company logo a link to the homepage. Regardless of why it is done, countless usability test sessions I have observed and run strongly indicate that this simply doesn’t work.
I recognise that a large number of users understand the logo convention however time and time again participants turn up who are not familiar with it. Usually their only way of getting back to the homepage is to use the back button – which can be a real pain if they have been on the site for a while or the back button acts as an undo for in-page functionality (think search filters). While it may seem trivial, getting back to the homepage is a fundamental aspect of user behavior when navigating websites. This remains true today even when we know that less traffic arrives in the homepage (http://giraffeforum.com/wordpress/2010/04/18/the-decline-of-the-homepage/). The homepage is commonly used by people to orient themselves on a site. Something along the lines of: the information I was seeking wasn’t there, so I’ll go back to the homepage to look elsewhere for it. Ironically it can be the users who are less experienced or confident online who get lost and need to get to the homepage to re-orient themselves.
LinkedIn uses a very conventional home button which will almost certainly be understood by users:
Home link
If there is a genuine need to deviate from a conventional home link, below are two examples of sites which take a slightly different approach however are likely to be effective.
Example of Alternate home link
Example of alternate home link
Both sites place the link in the top left of the screen, a conventional location. Asos saves space by using an icon while The Iconic avoids having to include a home link on their homepage by using prominent bread crumbs.
The humble home button plays an important role in assisting people to navigate and use a website effectively. If there is a need to avoid a conventional home link consider a creative approach, but keep in mind that usability testing with real users remains important when deviating from known and established conventions.
Interesting stuff, thanks Chris.
I would suggest that if you’re going to reference findings of usability studies, you publish or reference the findings if you want them to maximise acceptance.
For example, what kinds of users were observed and what kinds of sites? Did different users have the same need? At this stage, given the increasing scarcity of “Home buttons” I would wonder what the “convention” is any more.
All up, interesting but I’d love to hear a little more insights-driven and perhaps a recommendation. For example, based on your insights, should ALL sites have a home button? Talking in generalities about users and an approach such as this which is successfully adopted everyday “not working” is not as helpful as you probably intended.
Thanks.
Thanks for the feedback Terry. I would recommend that that all sites should have a home button the only exceptions would be sites that are aimed a highly tech oriented audiences (i.e. Stackoverflow).
Giant organizations such as Amazon, Apple, Twitter, and Wikipedia have done away with their home button because home is not where the primary source of interaction is taking place, but merely a location for featured offers, promotions or a table of contents.
Interesting point – and I agree that on a site like Wikipedia returning to the homepage isn’t particularly useful to users. Returning to the wikipedia homepage isn’t likely to help people re-orient themselves and find ‘other’ content.
We do need to be careful assuming that because a prominent site follows a particular design practice that they have tested it. And for every site that doesn’t use a home button there are plenty of reputable examples that do Gov.uk, the Guardian, Facebook & Twitter etc.