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12/28/2001 Archived Entry: "28-Dec-2001 -- WebWord Comment"

WebWord Comment -- I would like to be given a brief history of my previous actions on a web site. For example, imagine that you are visiting a retail web site and you are looking for an item. Suppose you find it but you don't add it to your shopping cart for some reason and then you leave the site. Now, imagine that you return to the site. I think it would be kind of cool for the site to give you quick links to the last 3 or 4 pages you visited when you were last at the site, perhaps in some logical order. This trail should be out of the way, yet still conceptually obvious (i.e., page titles act as links). This is a nice way to capitalize on recognition. That is, it doesn't force users to recall how they made it to those pages before. It also seems like it would help people pick up where they left off, or find familiar navigational cues. What are your thoughts on this?

Replies: 22 comments

Scenarios...

1) Wife visits site and sees what I was thinking of giving her for a gift.

2) Wife visits site and sees the [insert objectionable item here] I was browsing.

3) Wife or other person visits site and sees what embarassing item I was browsing (Preparation H?)

I dislike this idea immensely. My browsing is my private data and I don't want anyone seeing it unless I choose to share it with them. Thanksfully I reject permanent cookies (per-session cookies are OK), so such a "feature" would not work in my browser.

Posted by JS @ 12/29/2001 12:26 AM EST

This should be an option and not turned on by default but I think it's a great idea. Maybe a browser add on may implement this and it may be a good idea to protect it by a password.

Posted by Frédéric Roland @ 12/29/2001 09:04 AM EST

JS, you seem to have a real knack for finding the flaws in things. That is not a slam, indeed, it's a compliment. I like to see the other side of the coin. Your comments force me to think about the comments that I make and they prime me for comments I will make in the future. I need to ask myself, "What would JS say about this?", and then I can write my comments.

Posted by John S. Rhodes @ 12/29/2001 09:52 AM EST

Thus is the life of a perfectionist. I see the downside of everything.

Posted by JS @ 12/29/2001 11:04 AM EST

JS, therein lies the problem with multiple users. Under such circumstances, it's best to set up different accounts for your computer. Otherwise, users are free to access your private stash of sites and content. Additionally, this is a good way of making sure that nobody screws with the settings of your computer.

Personally, I think cookies are great for personalization and customization.

Posted by Francis @ 12/29/2001 04:38 PM EST

Personally, I think cookies are great for personalization and customization.

Posted by Francis @ 12/29/2001 04:39 PM EST

I think the idea is a strong one, if the user has the option of turning the feature off (which JS would choose to do if shopping for the wife.) A problem would be presenting the infomation in a unobtrusive yet obvious way - I think it could be somewhat expensive to implement, the site may not support it without developing short names for pages/products.

I do like the idea of a site asking at the home page "Continue last session or start new session" but there are flaws to that too, I often browse a site in multiple windows.

In the end, while the idea is interesting, it may not be very feasible.

Posted by Ryan @ 12/29/2001 04:57 PM EST

I do like the idea of a site asking at the home page "Continue last session or start new session" but there are flaws to that too, I often browse a site in multiple windows.

In the end, while the idea is interesting, it may not be very feasible.

Posted by Ryan @ 12/29/2001 04:58 PM EST

IMHO it should be a browser add-on.
The add-on could "recognize" websites that have been already visited and always record the last X page visited for each website.
In fact it's a kind of enhanced browser history management.
You could have a privacy button or a clear history for this website button or a crypted list of website where you don't want any data to be recorded...

Posted by Frédéric Roland @ 12/29/2001 06:24 PM EST

Well, the ever-enterprising Amazon people have already used this idea, folks :)

If you're signed in to Amazon, go visit now.

Browse around a couple of titles, and then check in the left column. You should see a "Recently viewed items" box. And in true Amazon style, they also have a "page you made" section, which displays recommendations based on what you've been browsing (not what you've bought). Pretty cool, eh?

They've also thought of JS, I guess. So these are only per session i.e., if you close your browser window, your wife won't be able to see what you've been browsing.

How many of you knew about this Amazon feature?

Posted by MadMan @ 12/30/2001 01:50 AM EST

MadMan, I noticed the feature. Struck me as a good idea... however, I personally don't bother with it. Perhaps it's 'cause I'm on a fast connection?

Posted by Francis @ 12/30/2001 03:11 AM EST

MadMan, I also noticed this feature. However, as you say, it only lasts for one session. I'd like to see it last over multiple sessions. In general, I care about where I went from session to session at a site, versus page to page during a session (i.e., inter-session vs. intra-session).

Posted by John S. Rhodes @ 12/30/2001 10:51 AM EST

Well, with the per-session box, and Amazon's "wishlist" what more could you need? I use the wishlist to save items I'm thinking about.

Posted by JS @ 12/30/2001 11:14 AM EST

JS, I also use the wishlist to store information and items. However, sometimes I don't feel like managing it from session to session. There are also times where I don't find exactly what I want, but I feel like I am close. The inter-session box would be better for me in those circumstances. Also, if we think beyond Amazon, and other online retailing, then this might be more important. For example, if I was doing research the inter-session box might be very useful.

Posted by John S. Rhodes @ 12/30/2001 11:40 AM EST

JS, what kind of browser do you use? I use IE5.5. It has a built-in 'history' feature. When I visit Amazon.com it nicely tracks all the productpages I visit, (see it happening with ctrl+h) and it stays there till i manually use 'clear history' in 'internet options'. This 'clear history'-feature is for handling the privacy issues you discribed. (because why would you delete your history anyway when you're the only user of your system?) It's someting like 'Taskbar Properties > Start Menu Programs > Documents Menu > CLEAR'.
I like the history feature a lot. Because when I start my browser I instantly can enter my last Amazon session where I want. The proper 'title' conventions of Amazon helps a lot though. And the few times I am looking for 'embarassing stuff' I clean my history. When you looking for 'embarassing stuff' a lot you should buy your wife her own computer, and get some help... :) joking here.

Posted by Frank Elbert @ 12/31/2001 08:30 AM EST

It could be useful if it's applied to weblog authoring, an undo/ history feature (similar to the History feature in Photoshop/ Illustrator...). Today however the weblog edit URLs don't contain much useful information, but it wouldn't be hard to change.
The shameless self- promotion- department: My company is just getting started and the software is very very beta (all comments are welcome) but if there's demand for it we could build an API to people's browsing history. Then the user's browsing history reaches further than one site (or she could choose to restrict the feature to a certain site)! A prerequisite to this feature is that the user feels she can control the data being collected (and as you can see in the privacy policy we've started working on it):

http://www.sprinterface.com

Rikard

Posted by Rikard Linde @ 12/31/2001 11:34 AM EST

Frank, the 'clear history' control is buried in the Internet configuration menu. Privacy controls should be front-and-center. You know, a "privacy" button next to Home, Refresh, etc. Most users never edit their settings.

But more importantly, the History function does not span multiple windows. I regularly launch new windows and those new windows do not show up in my History list. I use IE 5.5.

Posted by JS @ 12/31/2001 11:55 AM EST

An inter-session box seems like a more appropriate function of the browser itself. e.g., when you return to a web site you can access a context-sensitive list of related pages you've visited. I don't see why this kind of basic service should be hoisted on web site owners. It just leads to more confusion as yet-another-item to place on pages, that will be labeled something different on each site, located in a different area on each site, etc.

Posted by JS @ 12/31/2001 11:59 AM EST

JS, entirely agreed this ought to be a browser function. Infact, one can then explore, with privacy intact, many more scenarios, such as cross referencing with other sites or locally stored documents. You could see where all you went to compare prices. Local link trails in general may also be useful for adding document importance on top of google like stuff, i.e., which links did you actually follow.

Posted by The Inscrutable Gargoyle @ 12/31/2001 12:10 PM EST

JS, I agree. Most of users are not aware of the 'clear history'-functionality. Adding a 'privacy'-button next to 'Home' would be desirable.

Posted by Frank Elbert @ 01/01/2002 04:11 PM EST

Wheretostay.com has a very simple mechanism that allows you to "dog ear" a page (perfect terminology, imho). It doesn't require logging in so it's not private, but for my purposes, it works wonderfully. You just choose to "dog ear" a page and it'll keep a list for you. It's the same as bookmarking, but doesn't clutter your own bookmarks, since it's specific to that site.

Posted by amm @ 01/02/2002 11:25 PM EST

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