"In most of the usability testing I've conducted or been involved in, participants have stated that they do not like pop up windows." - Susan
I don't doubt that! Let's replace our word of 'pop-up' (which many web surfers would shudder at the thought of :) and replace it with 'information I can get / action I can do, without leaving the page'. That's what will pass. Here, I'll bring in the help of an expert. Excellent book, 'The Design of Sites' by Douglas Duyne, James Landay, and Jason Hong. Quote is from the section on Process Funnels. "Sometimes customers need additional information that you have not provided on a page, such as extra help or product details. Provide a link to a pop-up window containing clean product details, context sensitive help, or information from the frequently asked questions to make the extra information less intrusive. Your challenge is to implement this extra content without detracting from the main purpose." "not really helpful stuff like preventing me from overwriting a file in a save dialog. Also, with desktop applications you usually cannot proceed with a task until you have completed whatever subtask a dialog (pop-up) requires, which is not the case with pop-ups in a web browser." - Terrance Ah.. Exactly, that's a situation which happens many many times in web applications. You are thinking of traditional pop-ups. "But wait theres more? At what point in making a sale do you want to interrupt that process? If it's related, and important enough to the checkout process, then include it inline." - Terrence Your forgetting, nothing you do inline will command as much attention as info displayed on top of the page content. It attracts our attention visually and will produce quicker and more accurate responses from users. Disturbing the page layout to show complex information will confuse the user and you risk them not even noticing the change. The key is a process funnel. The user is attempting to accomplish a clearly defined task. They want to accomplish it, they've 'signed up' to accomplish it. THAT's where the pop-up window (DHTML or Browser) is useful. Forcing them onto another page will lose sales and disorient the user. Imagine filling out a complex form and you click on a link called "need help?" and you are whisked away to an entirely different page deep in the help section? User choice? The user doesn't know WHAT'S going to happen before clicking, and in this case, disorientation shouldn't be a choice. Again, I have to say in a shopping cart scenario, you will lose sales when you remove people from a process funnel in the middle of the transaction. You and I know how to right-click and open in a tab...but most people do not. Also keep in mind in the same scenarios, it may not be a link. You might want to show a window with a critical error alert, something that must be dealt with by the user before continuing. Pop-up windows command more attention than anything you can do on the page itself. (Think warning dialog boxes in windows) I think we're all deeply scarred and mentally distraught from annoying pop-up ads...I know I am! But let's not throw the baby out with the bath water. At any rate, back to semantics...I'd personally love to see the addition of link types for anchors in future versions. Cheers! Ryan Nichols Ryan Nichols Graphic Design / Web Development Matrixwebs.com 1.800.711.2829 18330 Sutter Blvd. Morgan Hill, CA 95037 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Susan R. Grossman Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 6:01 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [WSG] thoughts of external links in new window? A number of the corporations I've work for have the best practice of presenting a page in the same window which notifies the user that they are about to leave the "coproration name" web site with links that give the user the choice of continuing on to an external website or returning to the page they clicked on the external link from. Many of them also add a disclaimer on this page that lets the user know that the website they are going to content is not controlled by them and therefore they can't "gaurantee" the content. If they choose to go on, the external site is opened in the same window to avoid confusion of windows lost behind, or not knowing what has happened. After careful thought I have instituted this process during many other contracts since it allows the user to make a decision. Since they are links, not buttons the user can also opt to open the external link in a separate window and return to the the page the external link was on. Though I do not urge clients to use the "disclaimer" since they're already announcing it's not their website. This is done whether the external link is integrated into text or on a "links" page, since it's not reasonable to assume that all web users understand that a links page generally means external links. Susan Grossman On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 10:43:30 +1000, Lachlan Hardy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Apparently I too browse in a very similar manner to Wayne, I open just > about every link in a new tab. Back when I used IE, I opened them in a > new window (Shift+Click was a wonderful thing, now it's Ctrl+Click) > > However, I totally disapprove of opening links in a new window for one > reason only: > > If the link opens a new tab/window and I DON'T want one, how do I > correct that easily? > > If the link doesn't open a new tab/window and I want one I can easily > modify my actions to make it happen via keyboard shortcuts or the > context menu. Cutting and pasting URLs = pain in the bum = annoyed > user > > The only way to get by these days is to assume that the user knows > what they want and how to get it, and at least provide a consistent > experience for the users who don't know those things > > Someone previously mentioned those with learning disabilities becoming > confused by new windows unexpectedly opening. This also applies to the > non-IT savvy amongst us, of whom there are many. A consistent > user-experience is absolutely necessary in order to allow these people > to cope with the bewilderment they experience simply by being on a > computer, let alone the web > > The argument that users will learn to cope doesn't hold water with me. > Some users will, but there will always be some who won't. I work with > one guy regularly who is quite smart and very knowledgeable in his own > field but for the last ten years I've been trying to teach him how to > save to a disk and he still doesn't get it. He is obviously an extreme > case, but I work with many others with only slightly better IT > capabilities. Anything which reduces confusion for these folks and > increases consistency is a good thing! > > Cheers, > Lachlan > > > ****************************************************** > The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ > > See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm > for some hints on posting to the list & getting help > ****************************************************** > > -- Susan R. Grossman [EMAIL PROTECTED] ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ****************************************************** ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________ ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ****************************************************** ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ******************************************************
