Mobile nav beyond the hamburger

The hamburger menu is the default mobile pattern because nobody got fired for shipping one. It's also one of the worst-converting nav patterns in product UI. Click rates on hamburger items are 30–50% lower than visible navigation. The destinations are invisible, users don't tap what they can't see.

Here are the alternatives, and when each one wins.

The bottom tab bar

iOS standard, increasingly common on web apps. 3–5 destinations, always visible, thumb-reachable. This is the default for any product where users do work, Notion, Linear, Things.

Wins when: your product has 3–5 top-level destinations users move between frequently. Loses when: you have 8+ destinations and a tab bar would become unscannable.

The floating pill

A capsule of links floats at the top center, with the logo at left. Shrinks on scroll. Used by Arc and a lot of recent marketing sites.

Wins when: marketing pages with 3–5 nav items. Loses for product UI, too small for a primary navigation system once the user is in the app.

Bottom sheet menu

Tap a button (often the hamburger, often labeled "Menu") and a sheet slides up from the bottom. Better than the slide-in side drawer because it's thumb-reachable and respects the gesture conventions of native apps.

Wins when: you have many destinations and have to use a triggered menu. Strictly better than a side drawer on mobile.

Search-first

Big search input at the top of the screen, with curated suggestions below. Used by Notion's mobile app, command-menu-inspired. Works when users know what they're looking for and the nav is wide enough that browsing it would be painful.

The visible primary, hidden secondary

Top 2–3 destinations visible as tabs. "More" reveals everything else. The pattern Twitter and Discord use.

Wins when: there's a clear hierarchy, most users use 80% of the visible items, only power users hunt for the rest.

Thumb zones

Any primary nav action on mobile should be in the bottom third of the screen. Top-center is the worst place for a frequently-tapped element, users have to reach over the screen, often blocking content with their thumb. This is why bottom tab bars win.

Build one

The floating-pill-nav entry has marketing-site prompts. For product UI, look at the bottom-tab pattern in the dashboard collection. Pair with command-menu, power users will reach for search even on mobile if you ship it.