Why it became common
The three-line icon became a convention as screens shrank: dozens of destinations fold behind one icon, layouts look clean and desktop menus port easily. As Chae and Kim (2004) showed, deep hierarchies disorient on small screens, and a drawer can at least list many items at once, though Hick's law warns that more items mean slower choices.
Out of sight, out of use
In Pernice and Budiu's (2016) testing, hidden navigation was used less, took longer to find and made tasks feel harder: it undermines the discoverability Norman (2013) emphasises. For the one-handed users Hoober (2013) observed, the top-left corner is the hardest spot to reach. It also violates recognition rather than recall in Nielsen's usability heuristics.
Alternatives and how to choose
With three to five key destinations, use bottom navigation, as Material Design and Apple recommend. With many destinations, keep a few visible and put the rest in More or a drawer. Adding the word 'Menu' beside the icon helps. Usability testing as described by Nielsen (1994) is the surest way to decide.
FAQ
- Should hamburger menus be avoided?
- No; they are fine for occasional items, but keep key destinations visible.
- How can a hamburger menu be more discoverable?
- Add a 'Menu' label, place it within thumb reach and expose primary items on screen.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-27
References
- Pernice, K., & Budiu, R. (2016, July 24). Beyond the hamburger: What makes navigation discoverable on mobile. Nielsen Norman Group. Testing that compares use and speed of hidden versus visible navigation.
- Chae, M., & Kim, J. (2004). Do size and structure matter to mobile users? An empirical study of the effects of screen size, information structure, and task complexity on user activities with standard web phones. Behaviour & Information Technology, 23(3), 165–181. Evidence on how menu depth affects navigation on small screens.
- Hoober, S. (2013, February 18). How do users really hold mobile devices? UXmatters. Shows one-handed grips, explaining why a top-left icon is hard to reach.
- Google. (n.d.). Navigation bar. Material Design 3. Guidance splitting key destinations to a bar and many to a drawer.
- Apple. (n.d.). Tab bars. Human Interface Guidelines. Apple's preference for tab bars over hidden menus on iOS.
- Norman, D. A. (2013). The design of everyday things (Revised and expanded ed.). Basic Books. Explains discoverability as a pillar of good design.
- Nielsen, J. (1994). Usability engineering. Morgan Kaufmann. A guide to usability testing methods for validating menu patterns.