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Re: Question about links opening in new tabs/windows

for

From: Greg Gamble
Date: Dec 3, 2013 1:21PM

The problem with this is that Browsers have tabbed windows todays, its normal to have more than one open tab. When Browser did not have tabs, a new window was actually a new browser instance ... and these stacked on each other, which was very confusing ... especially if they were minimized. But with tabbed viewing, not so much. My 75 year old mother has no issues navigating with tabbed windows. She gets what she wants, closes the tab, then goes back to the original one. But again, this is just my opinion and what I see from users I actually interact with.


Greg


-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Karl Groves
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2013 11:15 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Question about links opening in new tabs/windows

This comes from a very old blog post of mine but is still very relevant:


Regardless of whether they're used for supplementary content or external links, the practice [of opening new windows] raises additional usability problems.

One of my colleagues writes:

I have been doing some usability testing for a local hospital and we have been fortunate to have participants with no familiarity with the web all the way to self-described experts. We tested pages where external links opened in a new window and pages where external links opened in the same window. Nobody had trouble navigating when links opened in the same window.
Many people had trouble navigating when links opened in a new window.

- Most everyone used the back button to navigate the site and not the
site navigation links.
- Many people didn't notice when a new window opened, even when the page
explicitly indicated that links would open in a new window.
- Many people were unable to get back to the main site when a new window
opened because the back button did not work.

I have long thought that people get disoriented when following links and that I, as the designer, had to build in ways to help people keep their bearings. So I've done the javascript popups and the target="whatever". But from watching people work with the web I am starting to think that people don't really notice when they go from one site to another, and that they also don't really care. They are questing for information and don't much care where they get it. The damage done by trying to be helpful and impose "context" is much greater than that done by leaving people to make their own way.

These observations mirrored my own. During a recent usability test, I noticed that new windows had caused disorientation in all users who had experienced them. Primarily, this manifested itself in the form of a "broken" back button. When users experienced these new windows and wished to go back to where they came from, they were unable to. In fact, ALL participants needed to be informed by the test facilitator that a new window had opened and that in order to get back to the site, they needed to close the new window. This is the last thing a facilitator wants to do.
Interrupting a test participant derails the testing process, and a facilitator will often wait quite a long time to see if the participant can figure out the problem for themselves. However, the new windows were such a problem that the facilitator needed to interrupt the test so that we could continue.
Any new window causes confusion and frustration, resulting in lost users

New windows opened via the "target" attribute causes confusion for the user, breaks the back button, and harms your users' perception of your site. For those who think that opening a new window will help keep the user from "losing the [original] site", the real effect is exactly the opposite.

In a recent usability test I observed, about half the participants actually got lost. With the new window completely covering the original site, they did not notice that they had two (or more) windows open. In an attempt to return to the original site, they repeatedly hit the back button. When that didn't work, they totally closed all browser windows and completely started over. Despite the fact that some sites insist on opening new windows "so the visitor doesn't lose our site" when in actuality, the new windows appear to actually cause people to lose the site rather than keep them.
"Band-Aids" only cover a gaping wound

During discussions of opening new windows with a colleague of mine, the argument was posed that seemed to make sense: The primary problem with these new windows wasn't just the fact that the new window existed. The biggest issue was the fact that the window was full size, therefore covering the old window completely. This, he said, is what caused the users' confusion. The solution my colleague proposed was that the new window should be created so that it is noticeably smaller than full screen
- say, 700 x 500. On the surface, this seems like an excellent solution.

Then, during another recent test, I noticed that users who encountered these smaller-than-full-sized windows would click the button in the upper right-hand corner in order to maximize the window. Because the site being tested opened new windows in multiple screens, some participants wound up with 3 or even 4 windows of the site open to full screen. It almost gave the impression that the new windows were cloning themselves. This practice of opening smaller windows is certainly is not a "fix", in my opinion.
Indeed, there's just no cure for the problems created by new windows except to simply avoid them.



On Tue, Dec 3, 2013 at 1:58 PM, Greg Gamble < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> The reason I open a new tab for an offsite link is pretty simple.
> Consider this: You're on a site with a high level of complexity, you
> click a link to a similar site, but not the original. Now you're on
> someone else's site and if your following an article you could even
> click out to another site. Now ... where is that original page I was
> on?? Back buttons don't work on every site and there may have been
> some redirects in there that you're not aware of, so now you need to
> open the history page to see if you can find that original page.
>
> Easier to open a separate tab and maintain the original site ... and
> yes it's 2013, but not everyone knows how to use a browser beyond
> clicking a link or using a back button.
>
> JMO :-)
>
>
> Greg
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto:
> <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Jared Smith
> Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2013 9:02 AM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Question about links opening in new tabs/windows
>
> Greg Gamble wrote:
> > I'd think this would be the preferred way of handling links,
> > especially
> for those concerned with web site marketing.
>
> I disagree. If this were "the preferred way of handling links", all
> external links would automatically open in new tabs/windows and you'd
> have to program them not to.
>
> Forcing new windows/tabs has consistently been in Jakob Nielsen's top
> mistakes lists since 1999:
> http://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-10-mistakes-web-design/
> http://www.nngroup.com/articles/the-top-ten-web-design-mistakes-of-199
> 9/
>
> If you're concerned about folks not knowing they are leaving your site
> (it is 2013, I think folks can tell sites apart these days and they
> know how to use the Back button), I think a better approach is to use
> an icon indicator to designate external links and give the user the
> option of opening the link in a new window rather than forcing this upon them.
>
> Some other resources:
>
> http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2008/07/01/should-links-open-in-n
> ew-windows/
>
> http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/new
> -browser-windows.shtml
> https://managewp.com/should-you-open-links-in-new-windows
>
> Jared
> > > list messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
> > > list messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>



--

Karl Groves
www.karlgroves.com
@karlgroves
http://www.linkedin.com/in/karlgroves
Phone: +1 410.541.6829