Choosing good names for menus and menu items is generally not difficult. A menu should have a name which is short and accurately describes the kinds of items it contains. For instance, a File menu should not have Copy and Paste items in it. The name for a menu item should both concisely and accurately describe the function it performs. Items are capitalized as described in Chapter 6 and an ellipsis is used with any item which opens a window. If a menu item opens a window, the names of both the item and the window should be the same.

Two ways to organize menus are the Noun-Verb method and the Verb-Noun method. Noun-Verb names menus after the kind of object that it operates on and items in the menu are actions which can be performed on the object. For example, the File menu contains items such as Open, Print, Save, and Close. Verb-Noun names menus with an action and the items are objects which the action can be performed on. Two example menus could be View and Go. Some "standardized" menus, such as the Edit menu, do not follow either method.

Items should be organized and grouped by function and/or attribute. Use a separator item between each item group. An example of this would be an Edit menu which looks like this:

Undo and Redo perform related, though opposite, functions. Cut, Copy, and Paste are all clipboard functions, so the belong in a group separate from Undo and Redo. A font menu would group font styles together. When organizing the menus in a menu bar, try to have a logical progression from one menu to another. A financial program might have these menus: Program, File, Account, Transaction, and Help.

Submenus are another option for grouping menu items, particularly for attributes. They should be avoided when other options exist because they slow the user down and also add complexity to the interface. Younger and older users also have trouble navigating to submenus because of the fine motor skills required. If your submenu has 6 or more items in it, consider placing them in their own top-level menu.