Tip from an ignoramus... you know... the people you cater to.

[applejackson75]

I know very little of web design, and I hope this doesn't come across as insulting to anyone, but I am frustrated and plan to ask this question in numerous places (this is just the first I found that is truly relevant). I truly would like to know the answer since the owners of websites that use fixed forms tend to have no idea, but never fail to tell me that it's not worth it to remedy the problem.
So I ask you, men and women in the field, if there is in fact a reasonable answer:
MANY sites are guilty of using "floating" pop ups. The ones that are optimized for a very specific screen size and resolution (one that almost no one uses EXCLUSIVELY anymore), hence moving out of the field of vision--and therefore functionality--as you try to scroll to see them or zoom in. Why? Why does any website use this method anymore? I can't see how it benefits anyone other than lazy web designers who don't feel like learning something new or innovate for the sake of function, and I'm certain it drives away customers. At least some... And ANY loss of customers should be too many for someone in business. Here's a designer's blog I ran across that pleads for change as well, and I'm sure I could find many more examples of frustration with this. Can someone please explain this refusal to cater to customers? Numbers 6 and 7 are especially relevant.



http://kyleschaeffer.com/user-experience/10-things-a-website-should-never-ever-do/

 

[Hazey Coder]

The older style popup windows can be useful in some places, and very annoying in others. It all depends on what you use them for.

Studies have shown that users are more likely to share information (like signing up to a newsletter) when the form is within a popup rather than on its own page, for example. Also, they are a great way of letting a user do something without leaving a page, like logging in during the checkout process of an eCommerce site (you don't want them leaving that checkout page, ever).

Now there are multiple forms of popups. When a website tries to open a new browser window, I get annoyed. But the same effect can be created using a dialog box or some AJAX plugin. I think the developer just need to keep in mind 2 things when creating a popup.

1. The close button should always be on the upper right as this is where visitors tend to search first.
2. Close the popup window when someone either clicks on the background overlay or presses the escape key.

I wouldn't make the sweeping generalization that "popups are bad" when sometimes they are used for good.