Layering: placing anchors on top of each other

Text Menu




A special case of anchor density must also be noted: anchors which are layered on top of each other or which occupy the same screen space. This is not related to link density, as the anchors may or may not connect to a new space. Secondary and tertiary menus that overlay content space when triggered, such as Nevada's Division of Environmental Protection [50] are other common layered effects. Dropdown menus, such as IDEO's [24] could also be considered a layered menu.

Economizing

The Doonesbury [64]navigational icon uses the same anchor space to show submenus that navigate to new pages. The anchor thus presents a great deal of categorical information in a small amount of screen space. The anchor also provides another comic to entice readers to go further into the site.
Screenshot used by permission.
Questacon [55] uses the same graphic anchor space to show various spatial maps of an area in Northern Australia. The instructions are to click to zoom, but this isn't quite accurate. The anchor provides 3 more maps with more and more detail about Arnheim land. This layered anchor saves room on the node so that the whole node resembles a child's desk with a letter and map.
Screenshot used by permission.

Dropdown menus such as Bankrate's [3] are the most common layered anchors. Usually, these consist of text anchors in a bar that users mouse down or short menu with a scrollbar.

The BBC [4] 's children's page uses an icon-filled scrolling anchor to present other anchors in a kind of marquee rather than a scrolling bar.


Screenshot used by permission.

 


Interacting

Both _][ad][Dressed in a Skin C.ode [44] and Firefly [34] use the same space to show meaning changes in a spatial context, as anchors trigger new content to appear in the same screen space. These anchors often comment on each other and their content. Indeed, Firefly's main text consists wholly of layered anchors which trigger the other anchors in the same space. Larsen introduces the work by asking readers to "make their own way through the text by clicking on each line to reveal a different facet of the story. [33] "

Pax [46] uses a navigational space where the anchors (images of men and women) pass each other and interact, crossing and recrossing paths. This overlaying adds to the strained three dimensionality which evokes a typical game space.

Creating a symphony

Rosenberg uses word-chord anchors to create an entire composition or symphony in a word-poem (e.g., Diagrams Series 5 [57]). These transparent card/anchors are layered on top of each other, creating an at-first indistinguishable muddle of letters. Mousing patiently over each anchor unpeels one layer at a time, like unfolding a symphonic composition by listening to it in a time sequence.