Overview
Breadcrumb is a one-line navigational element that supports wayfinding: it aids the users in finding their current location within the hierarchical structure of a website. Breadcrumb navigation is a good choice in terms of usability because it never causes problems in user testing and takes up very little space on the page.
Usage
Use when
- You need to inform the user where they are in the hierarchy of the site.
- The user needs to navigate back to a higher level page.
- The application has a complex, multi-layer architecture that’s more than 2 levels deep.
Don’t use when
- Primary navigation is needed instead. Breadcrumbs are always treated as secondary and should never replace primary navigation.
- Employing a vertical model tree component.
- If a lower-level page is (or can be put) in more than one parent category.
- You want to show the user’s history.
- Your product has a flat hierarchy that’s only 1 or 2 levels deep.