Navigation Architecture

Overview

Navigation is a promise about where things live. Pick the pattern that matches platform + app type, keep top-level destinations few and stable, and optimize for scent of information (each step visibly closer to the goal) — not raw click count.

When to Use

• Choosing the primary nav pattern for a new app or a major new section
• Restructuring nav because features have outgrown the current menu
• Users report "I couldn't find X," dead-end back behavior, or broken shared links
• Adding secondary nav: breadcrumbs, in-page tabs, segmented views, command palette
• Deciding whether a new feature gets a top-level destination or nests under one
• Auditing an app where every team added its own entry point
• NOT for page-internal layout and panel arrangement (see flow-app-shell)
• NOT for marketing-page section anchors — that's page design, not navigation architecture

The Proven Flow