http://webxopt.com/wordpress/2009/07/overlay-box-usability/ Just another WordPress weblog Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:04:07 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://webxopt.com/wordpress/2009/07/overlay-box-usability/comment-page-1/#comment-42 admin Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:04:07 +0000 http://webxopt.com/wordpress/?p=5#comment-42 That is a problem. Maybe you could always make sure that the overlay is an iframe. That way you can load the new content as a new page, so you can charge them for the extra work you're having to do. I know iframes aren't well thought of, but for this type of thing, when you are pulling content in from your own site I don't see that there is any problem, and it keeps the initial page size down (which is a great selling point for clients). I have to say that although poor use of overlay boxes is often an annoying extra step which can lead users away from a site. I am currently running tests on a site where I have moved an enquiry page from opening a new tab (the client wants to user to be able to see complex product info), to an overlay, and at the moment we are getting 10 times the enquiry rate! Obviously this could be a blip as I haven't reached statistical validity yet, but still 10 times was astonishing. So overlay boxes can work well, if used in the right context! That is a problem. Maybe you could always make sure that the overlay is an iframe. That way you can load the new content as a new page, so you can charge them for the extra work you’re having to do. I know iframes aren’t well thought of, but for this type of thing, when you are pulling content in from your own site I don’t see that there is any problem, and it keeps the initial page size down (which is a great selling point for clients).
I have to say that although poor use of overlay boxes is often an annoying extra step which can lead users away from a site. I am currently running tests on a site where I have moved an enquiry page from opening a new tab (the client wants to user to be able to see complex product info), to an overlay, and at the moment we are getting 10 times the enquiry rate! Obviously this could be a blip as I haven’t reached statistical validity yet, but still 10 times was astonishing. So overlay boxes can work well, if used in the right context!

]]> http://webxopt.com/wordpress/2009/07/overlay-box-usability/comment-page-1/#comment-41 christine Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:30:53 +0000 http://webxopt.com/wordpress/?p=5#comment-41 Thanks for the article. I needed a good summary to help explain when/how to use overlays. Right now I have a client who thinks that if you make a page an overlay and not a new HTML page, that means less web pages, which means lower cost to build. Hmmm...if only it were that easy. Thanks for the article. I needed a good summary to help explain when/how to use overlays. Right now I have a client who thinks that if you make a page an overlay and not a new HTML page, that means less web pages, which means lower cost to build. Hmmm…if only it were that easy.

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