SIGIA-L Mail Archives: RE: SIGIA-L: How users react to pop-up w
RE: SIGIA-L: How users react to pop-up windows
From: Oleary, Patrick (patrick.oleary_at_xpedior.com)
Date: Wed Feb 07 2001 - 17:52:27 EST
I have find pop-ups useful on a variety of intranet projects. There is no
expectation of advertising, unwanted content, etc., and they are perfect for
separating out some specific workflow tasks.
Patrick
-----Original Message-----
From: tmaynard_at_Lycos-inc.com [mailto:tmaynard_at_Lycos-inc.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2001 2:35 PM
To: Rebecca Davis
Cc: sigia-l-digest_at_asis.slis.indiana.edu
Subject: Re: SIGIA-L: How users react to pop-up windows
Certainly context is king... the observations we've made are certainly
within a
commercial portal context. But within that context, there are still times we
might want to use the pop-up, but can't. Usersalmost always close the window
without looking at its content. The only exception I've seen has been when
using
a tv/media player popup, where users have expectations that a pop-up will be
displayed.
Tom Maynard
Sr IA
Lycos, Inc
"Rebecca Davis" <rebeccalynnedavis_at_hotmail.com> on 02/07/2001 02:33:22 PM
To: Thomas Maynard/Lycos_at_Lycos
cc: sigia-l-digest_at_asis.slis.indiana.edu
Subject: Re: SIGIA-L: How users react to pop-up windows
Don't you think that context would play a part? If the user is in a paid-for
web service environment that has no advertising, it seems unlikely that they
would react in the manner you suggested.
>From: tmaynard_at_lycos-inc.com
>To: "Rebecca Davis" <rebeccalynnedavis_at_hotmail.com>
>CC: sigia-l-digest_at_asis.slis.indiana.edu
>Subject: Re: SIGIA-L: How users react to pop-up windows
>Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 13:58:46 -0500
>
>
>
>The user research folks here have observed that users automatically close
>pop-up
>windows, regardless of their intent/content, believing them to be
>ad-related.
>The pop-up advertisers have effectively taken a useful tool away from us!
>
>Tom Maynard
>SR IA
>Lycos, Inc
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>"Rebecca Davis" <rebeccalynnedavis_at_hotmail.com> on 02/07/2001 11:42:56 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> To: Amy.Belanger_at_kohls.com,
> sigia-l-digest_at_asis.slis.indiana.edu
>
> cc: (bcc: Thomas Maynard/Lycos)
>
>
>
> Subject: Re: SIGIA-L: How users react to pop-up windows
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>I think we need to make a distinction between different kinds of popups.
>The
>article you sent was about advertisements. However, I'd be interested in
>what people think about functional popups (wizards).
>
>A functional popup enables a user to complete a specific task and:
>* Not lose their context (the page they came from never goes away)
>* Not be distracted by other navigation - while they're in the popup wizard
>(be it a one-step or multi-step wizard), they aren't confused by other
>items
>typically on the page, since they are constrained to only what is in the
>popup
>* Related to above point: Have clear action - either Save or Cancel
>
>Popups are a surprisingly political issue where I work. We wrestle a lot
>with whether or not we should keep our actions in pop up wizards or just
>have page refreshes. We have the popups for the reasons cited above but
>have
>the following concerns:
>* Severe conflicts with AOL browsers (this is an issue for our audience)
>* Appears too "technical"
>* Goes against format of many typical sites such as Yahoo!
>* Not part of our discussions, but an interesting point in the article Amy
>passed on - that vision-impaired people rely on the large headers at the
>top
>of the page and are thrown by the visual clutter of popups. I think in my
>case, specifically, this isn't an issue, however, since we put a large
>title
>on our popups and they dominate the screen with their size.
>
>I'd welcome your guys' thoughts on this topic - the use of popups for
>functional purposes as opposed to advertising.
>Thanks!
>
>
>
> >From: Amy.Belanger_at_kohls.com
> >To: sigia-l-digest_at_asis.slis.indiana.edu
> >Subject: Re: SIGIA-L: How users react to pop-up windows
> >Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2001 09:04:19 -0600
> >
> >Interesting article on the hatred of pop-ups, posted to WAI-IG list
>today.
> >Hope this helps your fight against pop-ups. It mentions the negative
>effect
> >they have on the disabled using the net, as well as some software out
>there
> >to prevent pop-ups.
> >
> >http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-4719798.html
> >
> >Lucie Melahn <lucie_at_cloud9.net> wrote:
> >
> > >>The trouble is, I can't seem to find any documentation for what I
>assume
> >to
> > >>be universal hatred of little windows.
> >
> >Amy
> >
> >Amy Belanger
> >
> >Web Usability Designer
> >Kohl's Department Stores
> >
> >
> >
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
>
>
>
>
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2
: Sun Nov 23 2003 - 22:54:30 EST
|