One of the biggest changes to homepages across the web, particularly with big brands, is the seemingly mandatory inclusion of the multiheader. Multiheaders allows multiple stories or features access to the primary visibility section of a homepage, and let visitors choose (through a click or hover) which featured piece they want to see. Let’s take a walk through a few:
Yahoo!’s multiheader allows us to acces multiple sections (Featured, Entertainment, Sports, Life) and multiple stories in each.
C|Net’s offering lets users surf from one to the next using the “back” and “next” buttons, but if you stay on the homepage a few seconds, it starts cycling through automatically (which many of the multiheaders do).
CBS uses their multiheader to provide shows that will air that night. It’s point-and-click, only though, and I’m guessing their stats will show that very few folks notice the top links and use them.
I’m a big fan of the way National Geographic uses theirs – it feels intuitive, and the auto-scroll time between stories is just right.
Other sites like NFL, Scientific American, Gateway, MarthaStewart and many more are also using these multiheaders for a variety of reasons. What do you think? Will this trend become the next big thing for web portals and homepages? Do you think users are doing a good job of understanding and using these tools?
p.s. To be honest, I’m head-over-heels for multiheaders. I got to watch a lot of hands-on usability tests at Stanford’s web workshop and these were very well received (even by non-tech-savvy users). I think we might have to throw one on the new version of SEOmoz (if Matt says it’s OK).
p.p.s. Vegas is pretty fun – and attendance is running up over 2000; Pubcon’s highest ever, from my understanding.
