Module Tabs Design Pattern

Problem summary

Content needs to be separated into sections and accessed via a single content area using a flat navigation structure that does not refresh the page when selected.

Example

Usage

  • Use when there is limited visual space and content needs to be separated into sections
  • Use when there are between 2 – 9 sections of content that need a flat navigation mode.
  • Use when you need to keep user attention by circumventing page refreshing.
  • Use when section names are relatively short
  • Use when the content of each tab can be viewed separate from each other, and not in context of each other.
  • Use when the content for each tab has similar structure
  • Use when you need to show what tab is currently being viewed
  • Do not use when the content inside each pane would function just as well in its own separate page.

More examples

getshopflow.com
See all 9 example screenshots

Solution

  • Present the content of one tab inside a box (content area)
  • Place a horizontal bar on top of the content area with links representing tabs
  • Refrain from having more than one line of links in the top horizontal tab bar
  • Use color coding or other visual support to indicate what tab is currently being viewed
  • Present the content of each tab in the same content area
  • Only one content area should be visible at a time
  • Maintain the same structure of the top horizontal tab bar after a new tab has been clicked
  • Only the content area of the tabs and the horizontal tab bar should be changed when a user clicks a new tab
  • If possible, the page is not refreshed when a tab is clicked.
  • A new page is not loaded when a tab is clicked

Rationale

The Navigation tabs pattern is an extension of the desktop metaphor in which physical objects are represented as GUI elements. Navigation tabs are derived from the idea of folders in a file-cabinet and are thus familiar to the end user

Module Tabs provide an easy way to show large amounts of similar structured data parted by categories

Tabs create a context for content, when a tab is selected the relevant content is loaded inside the content area.

This article has been commented 10 times.

More examples of the Module Tabs pattern See all 9 example screenshots

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getshopflow.com
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viget.com
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foodnetwork.com
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jorgerigabert.com
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amazon.com
See all 9 example screenshots

User Interface Design Patterns

Getting input
Navigation
Dealing with data
Social
Miscellaneous
Onboarding

Persuasive Design Patterns

Cognition
Game mechanics
Perception and memory
Feedback
Social

3 comments

  • 581895d68833498aa850060ca7a070ab

    Rainer on Apr 15, 2009
    Remove Edit

    What if I have to or want to show more sections in my module than the module’s width? Does anyone know a good pattern for this?

    I only know some solution for this but am not sure which is really good:
    - showing several rows of tabs… which looks really ugly
    - showing arrows to move the tabs (like for the spreadsheets in Excel or for the browser tabs in Firefox)
    - showing only as many tabs as fit in the row and offer further tabs in something like a dropdown menu

    Any other ideas, recommendations or tips for good examples?

  • 9ee02b3fd841a1fb4e7c0755e125d784

    Tisha on Mar 16, 2010
    Remove Edit

    Virgin.com has something similar, you could actually take a que from Firefox tabs and Virgin.com where in you display the tabs you have room for then add a [More +] tab, the issue then is that it’s not really a tab, but more or less a shortcut that updates the “More” tab. I’ve done something like this before using stacked tabs inside a tab. The stacked tabs were all related views of the tab they were contained within.

  • C9293b442c7be46363ec1f8ea47bcbfe

    Garrett on Mar 04, 2011
    Remove Edit

    I wanted to point out a very good point from a comment on the navigation tabs page.

    “The background color of the selected tab should match (or at least seamlessly transition into) the background color of the contents of the tab. This visually ties the content to its tab.”

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