Well, why follow the guideline when it's not appropriate? I hope that my explanation lets you quickly spot when you shouldn't follow this guideline.
We need an independantly wealthy researcher who just left google, or a nice grad student ot do this study and write it up for public consumption. On Sun, Sep 28, 2008 at 12:26 PM, Robert Hoekman Jr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > If you open a new window automatically for a user in a new window or tab, >> it is the nature of the >> speed of the browser and the fact the new window opens right on top of >> the initial window that the user doesn't perceive what has happened. All >> they know is the back button has mysteriously stopped working. Considering >> it's the only control they really know how to use, this is upsetting to >> them. >> > > There has to be many exceptions to this guideline, though. Consider, for > example, the usability issue caused by leaving a multi-state web app > rendered via DHTML. Browsers don't cache the most recent page state—they > cache what was loaded in the first place—so leaving a page and hitting the > Back button can cause serious confusion and frustration. > > Another exception that appears to make sense is an inline external link, > such as a link to another article in a blog post. Doesn't it make more sense > to enable keeping both sites open at once (via a new window) than to assume > the user will know a shortcut to open the new page in a new tab/window > manually? > > I would so love to be wrong on this one, and I may just follow it as a > guideline regardless (because, again, it makes my life easier and everyone > seems to agree on it), but there are so many exceptions that, as a > guideline, it's shaky at best. And without any real data, we're relying on > thin information. > > -r- > ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
