Design Principle
Collapsing navigation is not hiding every entry; it reorders by task frequency and current location.
Principle Collapsing navigation is not hiding every entry; it reorders by task frequency and current location.
Design action Keep global navigation on desktop, compress secondary entries on tablet, and preserve current task, back, search, and primary action on mobile.
Examples Positive example: SaaS, knowledge bases, libraries, admin tools, and ecommerce need cross-page movement. Counterexample: Mobile leaves only a hamburger menu and loses the primary action.
Apply when SaaS, knowledge bases, libraries, admin tools, and ecommerce need cross-page movement. Users need to judge state, scope, risk, or next action quickly.
Source notes Source note: Synthesized from Apple HIG, Material Design, GOV.UK/Polaris/Atlassian component practices, and interaction accessibility principles.
Agent Directive
Keep global navigation on desktop, compress secondary entries on tablet, and preserve current task, back, search, and primary action on mobile.