Without hesitation, I always begin the basic structure of Web page design with the primary navigation on the
click to enlarge
right sidebar. It's always been that way, since anything else just didn't feel right. I've given that fact very little thought over the past 10 years. However, the need for self-examination seemed more relevant today as I started off to Cambridge Mass on what was a very cold November afternoon. It's usually a 3 hour trip, so I had plenty of time for introspection, especially since I was traveling to the annual "Learning and The Brain" conference. I jotted down the reasons why I think a right sided navigation is more intuitive on the backside of a
Google Maps printout. And, with that scrap of paper I traveled into the psyche of left or right navigation.
Left Brain - Right Brain
The speakers that were scheduled for the three-day event included scholars, authors, professors and educators in the "heady" field of psychology and psychoanalysis. Where better to analyze the dynamic that lie deep within my subconscious than experts in the field? This year's "Meeting of the Minds" was extra special since it had the most attendees ever, with over 2000 reservations and several dozen highly respected speakers. All of whom would pontificate and cajole the very essence of the "left brain, right brain" question.
The insight I came away with at the end of my fiirst day of lectures, is that the professional programmer (left brain) has a sequential way of looking at the parts to obtain a result. Programmers have to to be able to comprehend the highly complicated coding necessary to create today's interactive Web applications. While the designer (right brain) is a more fluid thinker, whose decisions are based on visual cues. What better way to explain why websites created by programmers look vastly different from those created by designers.
Note that this is my own personal discovery and not a scientifically proven fact. By no means do I claim to be a reseracher or brain surgeon.
