I outlined all of the big features I desire in a web browser in Part I of this series. Now, I want to take some time to explain point by point why I feel this way. Today, I am going to discuss the benefits of rearranging tabs and having a small visual footprint.
Rearranging Tabs
For a long while, I didn’t even realize how important this feature is to me. I always have a handful of tabs open, and I’m usually doing some sort of research. As soon as I have more than three or four tabs open, it starts getting hard to manage what information is in what tab. Being able to pick them up and move them is invaluable. It makes organizing your data an order of magnitude simpler.
Not only is it important to be able to reorder the tabs in one browser window, but it is also very important to be able to drag a tab to another window. Keeping multiple tabs open in different windows is a very easy way to categorize what information goes where. If you do any sort of multitasking, this feature is a must have.
Small Visual Footprint
For nerdy folks like myself, there is an impulse to have every button, slider, and doodad displayed at all times. Who knows when you might want to fiddle with something? That might sound good at first, but you’ll quickly realize that too many clickable items makes it hard to function. You’ll end up spending a lot of time trying to manipulate simple things that shouldn’t require a second thought.
Also, it is important to be able to see as much of a web page at a time as is possible on your monitor. When you start dealing with multimedia sites, scrolling around to see the rest of an image or movie becomes ridiculous. I truly believe that everyone can agree that minimizing scrolling is beneficial to both content creators and consumers.
In Part III of this series, I’ll discuss the benefits of having a customizable search bar and adhering to web standards.
Photo Credit: NeoGaboX
