An elevator that lies (and what that has to do with your navigation)

Want to go to the third floor? You press the button and when the doors open, you’re there. I have never heard of anyone needing to think much when using an elevator. On the contrary—I mostly see people who, while typing something more important on their phone, press the floor button almost in passing. Intuitively. 

A little science fiction 

Now imagine an almost identical situation. You press the button for the third floor, the elevator rises, the doors open. You step out—and find that you are standing in a completely different building. On the other side of the city. Perhaps the country. Or the world. You are indeed on the third floor, but at this point that is no longer even remotely important. 

You are not just confused. You are probably also a bit angry—at the elevator and its panel of numbers that has … tricked you. 

Of course, such things do not happen to elevators—except perhaps in a science‑fiction film or book. Their “user interface” has undergone decades of real‑world testing, and we, the users, have fully internalized it. 

Just as we have internalized the menu on your website or in your app. 

Navigation 

The definition of a website typically says: it is a set of pages under the same umbrella domain, with a shared identifier (usually a logo in the top left), a consistent visual identity, and—navigation. We romantically call the list of content that a user can access a “menu”; more technically: navigation. 

And it is precisely navigation—just as in a forest or on the open sea—that ensures the user does not get lost. 

When we choose an option in the navigation, we expect something very similar to the elevator: you press the button for the third floor and you arrive on the third floor. That is, on a subpage with the same or at least a related title as the link. But importantly—within the same website. 

You can think of a website as a building, and navigation as the panel with buttons. Because navigation is hierarchically subordinate to the identifier (the logo), the user rightly understands that they are already inside a specific building. Navigation is therefore an internal—not external—wayfinding system. 

So where is the problem? 

All too often, links to entirely different websites find their way into a site’s navigation. And not only on (semi-)amateur projects—this highly frustrating mistake tends to show up even on large, sometimes global services. 

Links that lead elsewhere are called external links. When they appear in the navigation, they are downright harmful to the user experience. 

Why? Because when a user clicks a link in the main menu (or anywhere they intuitively expect internal navigation), they do not expect to end up elsewhere. They expect to stay on the same website. To be accompanied by the same navigation. And to be able to click the logo to always return “home”. 

Just like in the elevator: even if you return to it from the third floor, the same panel with the same buttons awaits you. 

It is no better if you take the user to a “friendly” website—for example, to a separate site for your other brand. Ironically, it can be even worse: because of the similar visual identity, the user may not immediately notice they are elsewhere. And the confusion is even greater. 

A user experience misstep. And a major one. 

What should we do? 

There is nothing wrong with external links per se. But we should follow two basic guidelines: 

• external links do not belong in a website’s navigation, 

• we must make it clear to the user, in good time—before they click—that they are external. 

This gives them a sense of safety. Above all, a clear message: “With this click you are leaving this website. You will land elsewhere. The navigation will be different. ‘Home’ will not be the same either.” 

Never in the navigation. Even if it costs you a subpage. 

Sometimes external links end up in the navigation simply because there is no other place for them. There is no subpage to put them on. 

The solution? A new subpage. 

Yes, that requires a bit more work. You need to prepare content—you probably do not want a page with a single button. But that is the price of a good user experience. 

For the user, it is significantly friendlier to receive the basics (say, about your product) already on the website they are currently on. And only then—if they are truly interested—continue via an external link. 

Just like with the elevator: first you stay in the building. Only then do you go elsewhere.