Browser support in navigating search results
For example. One of the most common use cases, especially in search or online shopping, is viewing search results and clicking on a tiny "next" link at a bottom of a page, to jump to the next page of results. Why doesn't the browser help me with that? And there's a lot to help with. Just check out these different styles of pagination patterns*
Each site, uses a different pattern. Sometimes the next button is not even there, but a tiny > symbol pointing on which takes some mouse dexterity.
If you think about it, the matter is not trivial at all. My guess is that the average user wanders onto some kind of a search results page between 3 to 4 times a day. It can be google, price comparison, event site, online travel, or any online store for that matter, ebay, blog, news site, you name it.
Anything that displays its stock / content among many similarly looking pages.
My life would be a little bit simpler if my browser could discover that I'm on a search results page and offer me a quick & consistent way to jump to the next page (or the previous one). Take a look here...
How is this supposed to work? As soon as the scroll bar hits the bottom, the browser would display "back" and "next" controls sticking to the bottom of the browser chrome. If I click on "next" I jump to the next page of search results. I assume the browser would easily decipher where to send me to, having discovered a pagination schema on that page and parsed the html looking for a link to the next page.
Actually, we could take this concept one step further and use these controls on regular pages as well, duplicating commonly used "go back and forth" buttons, also located at the top. Redundant - yes. Required - too. It would be really useful, especially for PC folks (on their laptops with no mouse) who are forced to use browsers' scrollbars to scroll the pages. Why make them run with their cursors all the way to the top to click the browser back button?
What do you think?
*All images come from this article on pagination patterns. Thanks Smashing Magazine :)
4 comments
Mar 10, 2010
Tomasz Tybulewicz said...
We can use correct META tags (rel=next, rel=prev) as described on W3C: http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/links.html#h-12.3Opera can use it, why not rest of the browsers?
Mar 10, 2010
Maciek Saganowski said...
exactly, there are dozens of ways to implement it, again my point is that browsers should start doing more for us, not just show us web pages and sit idle otherwise, thanks for your suggestion :)
Mar 10, 2010
Very cool idea, but you just gave me an inspiration..
What if you are reaching the bottom of the page and the big next button is
fixed in layout (as usually..), but when you hit the bottom of the browser there is
like a loading circle spinning right next to it and the count down begins:
NEXT ( 5 )
NEXT ( 4 )
NEXT ( 3 )
NEXT ( 2 ) <----->
NEXT ( 1 )
and bang, you are on the next page. I love it. I am lazy ass, that would
save my life every time I visit any blog ;)
