Not saying that it’s going to happen, but I’d like to throw it out there for discussion. Thoughts? :)

Current Navigation Scheme

Click for a bigger picture

Proposed Navigation Scheme

This was one of the original navigation schemes I decided against for the app.

I’m leaning towards going back to it because I feel the placement of buttons and sub-navigation is more clear.

Click for a bigger picture

That looks amazing!

Seth,

I think the proposed is MUCH better. Easier on the eyes. Amazon in the early days tried the multiple rows of tabs and it doesn’t seem to work well. Which is why they went with one row later on… ( which changed depending where you were at ).

I like this much better. And the left hand nav makes sense.

As far as the ” Add Time Entry ” ... etc… maybe they could the yellow box ?

Great work guys. Always love your stuff.

Keep rockin!

Gary Bacon II
pixeltalent.cashboard.com

Good move: it’s really intuitive to have the second level navigation in a vertical panel. And it having the Cash overview (or whatever other key information there is on a particular page) in the panel: it doesn’t take up any more space.

What a great app: Cashboard simply goes on getting better.
John

I’m on the fence. I can see the advantages of each.

peace|dewde
http://dewde.com

I have to say from a browser perspective your top choice is better due to the scrolling of the browser on the side. I don’t have to move my hand across my wacom tablet to click the buttons as compared to the second choice. In other words, movement feels more consolidated in the first one…much easier on my arm. I work way too much as you can tell! Cheers! T :)

I think it looks more organized the new proposed way.

Do you really move your arm to move the mouse/tablet? I hardly have to move my hand ever! Maybe you just need to speed up the acceleration to give your arm a rest. :)

LOL – maybe you have a larger screen then I do (smile)....my 15” means I end up scrolling through my screen a lot as I have projects that have many line items in them. I will use Cashboard nonetheless…it’s a marvelous tool. Just thought I would put my two cents in. Blessings! T :)

hehe i have 2 24 inch monitors at home and at work. i think we should all pitch in and get you a larger screen! :)

Oh rub it in….LOL

I’ve got a working prototype I’m evaluating right now.

I’m opening a limited beta to some select Cashboard customers in order to test this out.

If you’d like to be a part of the beta, email support at getcashboard dot com.

I’ve gotten some limited feedback from new customers the action buttons are “hard to find”, or that they don’t know how to accomplish some things due to their location. Those comments were the genesis of this exploration.

Some shots of the current layout:

Shots of the layout I’m evaluating:

After interacting with the new prototype, I’m realizing some things.

• The current nav scheme I have allows me to eliminate the sidebar all together and reclaim that space for screens that need it. See the “timesheet” images.
• Long-scrolling pages with lots of content look empty as you move down the page. The effect is very jarring – and feels like there’s wasted space on the left.

My gut is telling me that having the content as the main item on the page and keeping the sidebar on the right is the best solution.

I’m leaning towards keeping the same layout, and sacrificing some ease of learnability for ease of usability in the long run. Fans of Cooper’s “Inmates” will recognize this as design for the “intermediates”, which I’m a believer in.

I’m going to sit with the design a few more days before I make any decisions.

Although having the submenu and action buttons all in the same column would be cool, I am very much with you on the content on the left argument. Its more important to me that I can get the most out of the content i can see (especially when you can make it full width like on the timesheet) rather than easily remembering with the action buttons are. I’ve never had any problems with the buttons being on the right.

Excellent! Much improved from the current, in my opinion!