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August 29, 2005
Useit.Com: Open New Windows for PDF and other Non-Web Documents
The common rationale designers have for opening new windows is "to keep users on our site," but that's bogus reasoning. If people want to leave, they'll leave. And if they just want to look at the other site, they’ll return to your site by clicking the Back button -- the second most used feature on the Web (after hypertext links). In fact, one of the usability problems of opening new windows is that they alter the expected behavior for returning to the previous location.
When a PC-native application opens inside a browser window, a second -- and equally unfortunate -- phenomenon occurs: When users can still see browser commands and buttons, they'll sometimes assume they can use these features to manipulate the document. Unfortunately, features that "make text bigger," "print," and help users "find in page" don't work while viewing a native application document. Given this, it's better not to show users familiar (and non-functional) browser buttons while they're working with a non-Web document.
Continue Reading "Open New Windows for PDF and other Non-Web Documents"
Posted by Don at August 29, 2005 08:44 PM
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