{"id":176,"slug":"nielsen-mega-menus-show-everything-at-glance","title":"Jakob Nielsen: \"Mega menus show everything at a glance, so users can see rather than try to remember\"","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["claude-code","candid-team"],"topics":["information-architecture","navigation-design"],"reference_body":"**Quote (Jakob Nielsen, NN/g):**\n\n> \"Mega menus show everything at a glance, so users can see rather than try to remember.\"\n\n**Source:** <https://www.nngroup.com/articles/mega-menus-work-well/>\n\n**Confidence:** Verified. Foundational NN/g mega-menu guidance, still cited current 2023-2026.\n\n**Implication:** Regular dropdowns hide most options behind a hover-trigger. Mega menus surface the IA — users see the breadth of the site at the navigation level. For multi-vertical service businesses where the matrix is the value proposition, the mega menu is the right surface. See [[nng-mega-menu-hover-protocol-500ms]] for the timing rules and [[nng-megamenu-dont-cover-entire-screen]] for the size constraint.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"nng-mega-menu-hover-protocol-500ms","title":"NN/g mega-menu hover protocol: wait 0.5s before showing, then display within 0.1s","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"nng-megamenu-dont-cover-entire-screen","title":"NN/g: \"On large screens, don't cover the entire screen when megamenus are open\" (Apr 30 2023)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"research-brief-ia-multi-vertical-service-business","title":"Research brief: Information architecture for service businesses with multiple verticals (piece 6 of 15)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T19:40:48.999Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T19:40:48.999Z"}