BBC introduces new menu system with subtle changes

When you run the most popular News website in a country, changes tend to be well thought out. The BBC has been through a beta testing process, with a trial audience, before revealing one of the most subtle changes to a menu system that we have seen.

This week the site offers a menu located at the head of the page. That might not sound ground-breaking, and indeed it is not. However, somewhat unbelievably - it is new.

Previously users have had no choice but to navigate using side based menus, which as the site has grown have become more and more difficult to find quickly. So, now the BBC has added a feature most websites have as standard - the header menu.

The BBC website header menu

On the face of it, it looks rather unremarkable. But if you delve a little deeper by virtue of the More option on the right of it, you find that it is actually a nested menu that gives swift access to much deeper parts of the BBC site.

Plus, it goes further. If you go to the A-Z listing from the menu you will see a new slider menu system open up that gives you access to a quite vast range of subsites and content.

The addition, or development, improves what is an already fantastic website and with a Google Page Rank of 9 it remains one of the most popular sites globally.

So, well done to the BBC. A visually subtle change with powerful features that demonstrates that even the best can be improved upon.

Does it matter?

The BBC website matters hugely. With a collosal user base and loyal foundation of daily readers, if a change is made to the site design then you can consider it one that should make others think.

The change, and others of late, are not ground breaking. The BBC website tends not to do revolution. It evolves when it finds a solution that works, is practical, will provide a genuinely beneficial feature to visitors - and can be deployed with minimal fuss.

We take a great deal of note of the development changes they make and their new menu system is testament to the thought that simple is best. Few users will even notice, at least in the short term, of the features that the new menu offers. But, they will catch on in time and almost certainly draw users deeper into a site that often hid just how big it was.

If the BBC was, as we suspect, seeking to draw users further into content they did not realise existed - then they have probably found a method perfectly suited to doing so.