Off the beaten tracks: exploring three aspects of web navigation

This paper presents results of a long-term client-side Web usage study, updating previous studies that range in age from five to ten years. We focus on three aspects of Web navigation: changes in the distribution of navigation actions, speed of navigation and within-page navigation. "Navigation actions" corresponding to users' individual page requests are discussed by type. We reconfirm links to be the most important navigation element, while backtracking has lost more than half of its previously reported share and form submission has become far more common. Changes of the Web and the browser interfaces are candidates for causing these changes. Analyzing the time users stayed on pages, we confirm Web navigation to be a rapidly interactive activity. A breakdown of page characteristics shows that users often do not take the time to read the available text or consider all links. The performance of the Web is analyzed and reassessed against the resulting requirements. Final...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: WWW
• Authors: Harald Weinreich, Hartmut Obendorf, Eelco Herder, Matthias Mayer
• Keywords: Important Navigation Element, Internet Technology, Navigation Actions, Web Navigation, WWW 2006