Nedward is digging into the new MoMA.org… so far, very intriguing. Fixed nav bars are the new hottness.
I just sent the tweet above a few minutes ago, but wanted to post some more context about it here. MoMA launched a revamped web site today, with a lot of hook-ins to social networking sites like Flickr, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc. But, one of the more compelling changes is the addition of a Facebook-style fixed nav bar, at the bottom:
The new MoMA.org, with its fixed navigation bar.
NYTimes.com uses something very similar for TimesPeople, as does Google with their Social Bar. So, this seems to be an emerging trend – and though some point out that it’s not much different of a concept as old HTML framesets, I kind of dig it. Websites have come a long way towards feeling like desktop apps, and this is a good implementation.
The museum’s twitter feed credits MoMA’s internal Digital Media Team and forofficeuseonly.com with the design. Also, for more information on the relaunch, check out the Times article that ran yesterday:
MoMA’s new site, which makes its debut on Friday, is an almost complete reconstruction of how the museum presents itself online. It features livelier images from its collection and exhibitions, increased use of video and the new interactive calendars and maps. But more important, the museum wants the site to transform how the public interacts with an institution that can sometimes seem forbidding and monolithic.
Re: Navigation as framesets. I agree this is a good implementation of a static nav bar – but I wonder if that’s more a fact that screen-resolution has made it more viable. Back in 1996, I wasn’t willing to give up even 100 pixels to a fixed nav bar on a 800×600 (or, gasp, a 640×480) screen. Today, with average monitor heights in the thousands of pixels, 100 pixels is a much easier sell.
Agreed – but I also think that with ajaxy stuff and CSS, this is a lot more akin to a desktop experience than a 90s site with framesets, graphical text and rudimentary DHTML menus.