Clickstream Study Reveals Dynamic Web
“A new browser study revealed a shift in how we interact with the Web. University of Hamburg researchers found the Web moving from static hypertext information to dynamic interactive services. Clickstream heatmaps and web page statistics show rapid interaction over smaller areas of the screen. The authors recommend that web developers create concise, flexible, and fast loading web pages to keep pace with the speed of web navigation.”
The web is getting richer and more robust. More activity can and will take place inside the browser window versus with the browser itself. For example, users are much less likely to use the browser Back button to navigate.
This article also challenges the idea that you have a full screen as a design canvas. Although you might design for 640×480 or 1024×768, many users simply don’t use their browsers in full screen mode. Users also have toolbars in the way, consuming space all of the time. Thus, you always lose real estate. Designing for a certain resolution is a bad idea unless you decrease that amount by about 15%. Users will use the screen space exactly as they see fit. Fight that and you’ll always lose.
Also, it seems that slow connections are still a problem. More jazzy cool stuff is being pumped through slow pipes. Obviously this must be a frustration for many users.
Highly recommended: Web Navigation Study: A Clickstream Analysis