[Sigia-l] "close window" links in pop-ups

[Tanya Rabourn]

On Wed, 23 Jun 2004, Sulleiro, Andres wrote:
> I wanted to get people's opinions on the use of "close
> window" links in pop-ups to, well, close the browser
> window. They are very common everywhere and I never really
> stopped to think about them much. Is it necessary?
> Shouldn't the browser's "x" button be enough? Are there
> any studies out there about the subject?

Believe it or not, there are users who don't know how to
close a pop-up window. The redundancy of a "close window"
link is a safety net for them. They might be inexperienced
in general or just inexperienced on the particular platform
they're using your site on. Of course, it does add some cost
to you in the process of creating it, ensuring it's well
designed (looks clickable, etc.) and functions properly.
Know your audience to balance the tradeoff, I'd say.

Not really that relevent to the discussion, but your
question did make me think of the nice description of an
inexperienced user browsing the web from the following
article in New York Mag's Bloomsday series. Abby is a
"computer teacher" helping a "Mrs. Z,"

	Abby did I break something? (It's an infinite
	regression of pop-up ads.) No, no, it's never you,
	Mrs. Z. Just drag until you see the close button X
	marks the spot, see? She looks frightened. Don't
	worry. They're just ads.

http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/people/features/9305/index2.html

-Tanya