Welcome to Vol.2 of Not Invented Here, a new semi-regular series on trends and innovations in interaction design (IxD).
For much of the life of the web, the footer has largely been an afterthought, usually containing only a small number of simple elements: a copyright statement, security and privacy statements, and maybe some utility links. That’s about it.
Traditional style footer on www.ford.com (as of Feb. 04, 2010)
Designers have generally given little attention to this seemingly insignificant element. And why would they? The prevailing assumption was that users don’t scroll, so let’s keep everything important at the top of the page. The footer could be an afterthought because no one would look at it anyway.
But based on some compelling research, users’ true habits have proven to the contrary – people are in fact scrolling and the myth of the fold is finally coming undone. Armed with this knowledge, the footer has been undergoing an evolution and designers are giving the lowest page element some love.
Over the last couple of years we’ve seen the rise of the Fat Footer, or as I prefer to call them, “Super Footers,” a name that’s not just less insulting, but downright impressive.
Fat footers, as their name implies, are just larger footers that make room for an increased and varied array of elements. These have come to include, among others: redundant navigation, site maps, searches, featured content, social sharing elements, and contact info and forms.
Examples of Fat Footers
Fat footer on www.comedycentral.com (as of Feb. 04, 2010)
Fat footer on www.ea.com (as of Feb. 04, 2010)
Benefits of Fat Footers
So what is the big deal?
We reached out to user experience specialist Kara McCain of Nielsen Norman Group to get her take, and this is what she had to say:
“It’s basically about predicting a user’s next need(s), keeping them moving throughout the site by helping them find the most relevant information and completing their tasks when they get down to that part of the page (rather than just slapping your copyright information and privacy policy down there and calling it a day). ”
— Kara McCain, User Experience Specialist at Nielsen Norman Group
Fat footers provide added utility and usability in a somewhat surprising place by keeping users moving through a site with two main benefits: second chances and additional considerations.
Second Chances: By providing redundant navigational links or a shallow site map, fat footers can give users a second chance to find the content they’re looking for.
A couple levels of navigation can be listed out in a fat footer without the same restrictions of vertical space that designers must adhere to in the header. This allows users a quick scan of the site without having to scroll back to the top to poke around the global navigation in a trial and error manner.
But, however useful they may be, fat footers should not be relied upon to make up for shortcomings in site architecture or navigation design.
Site navigation in the Fat footer on www.whitehouse.gov (as of Feb. 04, 2010)
Additional Considerations: The fat footer can be a great place to globally highlight featured content and additional resources (social networking, subscriptions, affiliate sites, etc…).
This can take the pressure off of more valuable page real-estate in the header or page body by either providing an alternate or redundant location for the this kind of content. For blogs, news, and e-commerce site, this can be particularly useful where users are scrolling down the page while scanning listings, reading an article, or exploring product details.
Featured content in the fat footer on www.h-d.com/darkcustom (as of Feb. 04, 2010)
Fat But Not Bloated
The footer may be getting fatter, but just like with mega-dropdowns, caution should be given so that it doesn’t also get bloated with too many unnecessary elements and links. Basic design rules of clarity and scanability still apply. Keep enough breathing room between content and provide clear headers. If users have to work too hard to figure out what’s going on in the footer, it will likely be ignored just like most standard footers.
The example below from the (otherwise fantastic) Food Network site may be getting to the point of being too cluttered. The number of links are distracting, the headers are easily lost, and the carousel of affiliate sites is poorly integrated into the design.
Fat footer on www.foodnetwork.com (as of Feb. 04, 2010)
By cutting back on some of the links and cleaning up the design with a clear visual hierarchy, it’s possible these same elements could be reworked into a more coherent and useful presentation.
Creamycss.com on the other hand, has quite a lot going on in their fat footer: recent posts, an about paragraph, a list of links, and a carousel of recommended reading, but unlike the Food Network example, these elements have clear headers, good spacing, and use a harmonious color palette.
Fat footer on http://www.creamycss.com (as of Feb. 04, 2010)
Some Parting Thoughts on Fat Footers
A well-designed fat footer is great way to provide added utility to a site without cluttering the header or body. Just be careful not to overdo it.
Beyond added utility; a fat footer can be a space for creative outlet as well. I’ll end this article with a few of the more creative ones out there.
Fat footer on www.vimeo.com (as of Feb. 04, 2010)
Fat footer on http://www.northern-classics.de (as of Feb. 04, 2010)
Fat footer on http://www.bristolarchiverecords.com (as of Feb. 04, 2010)
This entry was posted on at 8:12 am and is filed under Design, Interaction Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. -->Fat footer on http://www.neatorama.com (as of Feb. 04, 2010)
Monday, May 17, 2010
Not Invented Here Vol. 2: Fat Footers
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Internet Marketing 101: Email trends for 2010 - Email Marketing - BizReport
Blaine Mathieu, chief marketing officer with email hub Lyris, insists that email will continue to be a strong force in marketing through the New Year. Here are Mathieu's top five trends for 2010.
1) "Email will continue to be an anchor for multimedia and online marketing," said Mathieu. "All indications are that email will continue to grow into 2010. Email is recognized as the highest ROI form of online marketing and it's measurable. Even though email is the 'grandfather', it really is the cornerstone and will remain.
2) Mathieu also expects to see more integration between email and social ad platforms. "As part of the social mix, online marketers will continue to integrate social media with email marketing to ensure that brands, projects and products are cross-marketed and connecting with consumers.
3) More than just social integration, though, Mathieu expects to see integration of most other online ad formats and email through 2010. "It's always the promise on the horizon," said Mathieu. "But in 2010 you're going to see more progress toward truly achieving integrated marketing. Any marketer not using integrated tool sets is doing a disservice to the brand. Entire organizations will be working with social applications to connect with the consumer base."
4) And forget about online analytics. In 2010 the trend will be to move away from when or where consumers are clicking ads and move toward optimizing programs to keep consumers engaged for longer periods of time. "[Marketers] will begin to know marketing analytics and not just web/online analytics. They will know what happens after the click, how the consumer becomes engaged/disengaged and how they interact with the website as a whole."
5) "Finally, mobile will be a big trend," said Mathieu. "It's been 'the year of mobile' for several years but in 2009 we finally saw a mindshift begin. That shift in mindset that mobile was the away-from-office computer will help marketers connect with consumers in a new and different way. [This will] drive mobile campaigns and push mobile-accessible websites."
Overall, Mathieu expects 2010 to be slightly simpler for marketers as integrated tool suites launch and become more familiar. These suites will make it simpler for a singular campaign message to be heard from email through social and into video and mobile. As for what Mathieu is looking forward to?
"As I said, you have mobile driven by newer devices and you've got the tools ready to be used. You have social marketing coming into its own and the analytics tools that are simpler to understand," he said. "So I'm looking forward to taking advantage of the convergence of all these trends in 2010."
Tags: 2010 forecast, Lyris, email forecast, email marketing, email trends