The hamburger-menu icon today: Is it recognizable?

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall sentiment about the hamburger icon

  • Many commenters dislike hamburger menus, calling them lazy design, “junk drawers,” or “last resort” navigation.
  • Others argue that, after a decade of use, the icon is now broadly recognized by many users and functions adequately as a de‑facto standard.
  • Several note that both can be true: familiarity has increased, but it remains suboptimal for discoverability and clarity.

Cognitive load, recognition, and learnability

  • Icons require users to decode symbols, whereas text like “Menu” communicates more directly; multiple people report older or less tech‑engaged users not understanding the icon at all.
  • Some argue that frequent exposure lets icons approach words in efficiency; others counter that reading is heavily practiced from childhood while icon vocabularies are ad‑hoc and inconsistent.
  • Variants (three bars vs three dots vs “grip” handles vs gears vs logos) increase confusion and cognitive load.

Discoverability and “junk drawer” problem

  • A common complaint: hamburger menus hide key actions, leaving users unsure what exists or where it lives.
  • Items inside are often a disorganized mix of navigation, settings, and stray features; the menu becomes a dumping ground rather than a coherent structure.
  • Cited NN/g research (and other experience) indicates hidden navigation significantly reduces content discoverability and conversions.

Placement and consistency

  • Strong disagreement about “standard” placement: some say top-left, others observe it more often in top-right; a few advocate bottom or OS-standard buttons.
  • Several stress that inconsistency across apps (placement, contents, even meaning) is a core usability problem.

Text vs icons and localization pressures

  • Many advocate labeling the hamburger with “Menu” or using the word alone; others point out localization, word length variability, and layout constraints.
  • Counterpoint: if the UI already has translated text, one more word is a small additional cost.

Mobile vs desktop and broader UI trends

  • Many feel hamburgers are defensible on phones (limited space) but unjustifiable on desktops, where menus and toolbars offer better, denser, more discoverable controls.
  • Broader frustration appears around modern “flat,” low-density, icon-only UIs, removal of classic menu bars, and prioritizing aesthetics or cross-platform uniformity over usability.