Evaluating a Temporal Behaviour for Web Browsers' Back and Forward Buttons

Type of content
Conference Contributions - Other
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
University of Canterbury. Computer Science and Software Engineering.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2002
Authors
Cockburn, A.
McKenzie, B.
JasonSmith, M.
Abstract

This paper describes the evaluation of a ‘temporal’ alternative to the normal ‘stack-based’ behaviour of the Back and Forward buttons on web browsers. The main difference of the temporal scheme is that it maintains a complete list of previously visited pages. Results confirmed our prediction that the major limitation of the temporal system is in returning to parent pages. They also showed that the temporal scheme allowed many users to solve complex navigation tasks more efficiently than the stack system. Overall, the results are positive and indicate that the temporal scheme can be adapted to improve web navigation.

Description
Citation
Cockburn, A., McKenzie, B., JasonSmith, M. (2002) Evaluating a Temporal Behaviour for Web Browsers' Back and Forward Buttons. Honolulu, Hawaii: Proceedings of the 11th International WWW Conference, 7-11 May 2002.
Keywords
web navigation, world wide web, revisitation, browser design, hypertext
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights