The Virgin.com redesign sports a header that provides a boatload of functionality using mega fly out menus: locale selection, micro-site navigation, registration, login, and newsletter signup. I like that they make these options readily available wherever you are on the site. The longer drop downs like the registration form, for example, seem a little long for users on smaller screens, e.g. netbooks.
The header definitely packs in a lot of content, making it easily accessible. I just wish the flash movie didn't scroll as I navigate through the main nav dropdowns. It's too distracting.
This is such an improvement on their old site, which was a tangled web to virgins various 'sub sites'.
The homepage still has far too much unnecessary scrolling.
I like the mega-dropdowns, and the header in general. You didn't mention the innovative use of Twitter in the strapline.
Two concerns: Page weight and accessibility.
The dropdowns add quite a download hit, unless their contents are loaded using ajax. But they don't do that except for the captcha image.
For accessibility, they need to consider the design in absence of javascript. They have done so, but at the cost of serious redundancy: e.g. having a separate version of the Register form https://www.virgin.com/user/sign-up/
The HTML source order does also not take accessibility into account. The header dropdowns all come before the main content in the source order, with no ability to skip it.
Then there are a couple of basic usability problems:
- The Flash banner animating distractingly behind the dropdowns
- The dropdowns disappear instantly when you mouse out, making it easy to dismiss them accidentally
But apart from the above, I find it an impressive design.
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