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Ask HN: Most people find browser tabs confusing?

5 pointsthomasrognon6y ago10 comments

I made a visual database app and one thing a lot of my users find frustrating is that each table opens up in it's own tab. They say things like they don't know how to go back to where they opened the table from (and would do things like hit the back button on a freshly opened tab). Some were lost when I would ask them to do things like "close the current tab". And so on.

Browser tabs are so much more versatile than re-implemented tabbing within my app and I figured that since many people use Google Sheets/Docs/etc which also does this, then a tab per document/table/whatever would be familiar. Maybe I'm wrong. What does HN think?

10 comments

9 comments · 3 top-level

zzo38computer6y ago· 3 in thread

I say don't make each thing open in its own tab, but use a standard link, so that if a user enters the command to open in a new tab (for example, middle-click on Firefox) then it will work correctly.

thomasrognonOP6y ago

In my case, users need to switch back and forth between multiple tables often (maintaining things like state and scroll position). So if I don't leverage browser tabs, I'll have to implement tabbing within the app. Of course, users could still choose to open tables in new tabs also, but that would result in two levels of tabbing.

tdeck6y ago

Can you create some variation in the tab icons so it's easier to find the one you were just looking at? I've never seen this done but I do often have the problem of having, say, 10 Google Docs open in a full tab bar and not knowing which is which.

zzo38computer6y ago

Well, what I am trying to say is that if you do it properly then you will not have to consider that, since it will already work. If they user wants to open a new tab, they can middle click (or whatever other method is correct for doing so on their browser, which might not be middle click); if not, they can left click (or tab to it and push enter, or whatever). For state and that stuff is a valid point, but if the browser history and the URLs in the browser history should generally be able to store whatever such things are valid, I think. It isn't browser tabs that are confusing, but rather when you try to override the existing user interface with your own, that makes it confusing and difficult to work with.

brudgers6y ago· 2 in thread

What does HN think?

Don’t matter. Listen to your users. Try not to argue with them. Good luck.

thomasrognonOP6y ago

We don't have many users yet (private alpha), so I'm trying to get ahead of the ball. I'm wondering if this is a broader trend other people have seen or maybe a symptom of something else. Does it work for Google Sheets/Docs/etc because people are used to relating "documents" to separate windows and that is unlikely to carry over to "database tables"? These are hard answers to get up front from users, but maybe other developers/startups have insight.

At the end of the day, I will absolutely listen to our users (and definitely not argue with them). Always a great reminder, though, thank you!

The average computer user has trouble saving documents in folders. It doesn’t matter because it’s not a critical business function.

detaro6y ago· 1 in thread

Some random points, hard to say in detail:

Browsers tend to not automatically open new tabs though, but only if you explicitly do something to cause it.

Maybe many people do not use multiple tabs within one site/app, and that doesn't translate (There's probably some research out there on how people use browsers in practice)

Your app might look and feel too different from a browser or other tabbed environment. Does it clearly communicate where a new tab is opened, that you can't go back on it, ...?

thomasrognonOP6y ago

Maybe many people do not use multiple tabs within one site/app

I'm thinking this may be the crux of the problem. I figured since G Suite did it, it would be common enough and fine, but maybe not.

There's probably some research out there

Everything I found was about how some people never close tabs and how to deal with hundreds of open tabs. This is also part of what led to me assume that people are comfortable with the concept of tabs.

look and feel too different from a browser or other tabbed environment. Does it clearly communicate where a new tab is opened

I'm personally biased towards this answer. Maybe it works for G Suite because people understand "documents" as being self-contained in separate screens and that does not intuitively carry over to other things. Leveraging browser tabs is so powerful and useful, so I'm hoping some extra communication effort will solve it.

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