[thelist] Studies, Opinions on browser's auto-maximizing on load

[Stephen Rider]

On Mar 24, 2005, at 1:06 PM, Jacob Reiff wrote:

> I need to convince somebody that using an ‘auto-maximize’ script on 
> page
> load is a terrible idea and appears amateurish. Unfortunately, my 
> opinion on
> this issue is not enough to make the argument stick. Does anybody have 
> a
> resource they can point me to that has user studies, etc that “prove” 
> making
> your webpage expand to screen resolution is bad practice? Thanks!

A quick Google search for "usability text line-length" (no quotes) 
gives us this:
	<http://psychology.wichita.edu/optimalweb/text.htm>
Scroll down a bit (just past the last bar chart).

Another easy experiment:  Copy a long article into Word.  Set it to a 
slightly small font and print it out in one wide column.  Next, set it 
to print Landscape, shrink the margins to 1/2 inch, and print it again. 
  Hand him both and ask him which he thinks is easier to read.  His own 
eyes should back your argument.  :-)

And here's a single bit of useless anecdotal evidence to show him:
I absolutely HATE it when a website resizes or moves my window; I have 
it where it is and at the size I have it for a reason.  This is a 
really good way to make my First Impression of your company a negative 
one.  It's arrogant -- you're presuming that you know better than I do 
how to use my own computer.

I would rather see popups (cuz hey... they're so easy to close).  No, 
that's not an endorsement of popups.

Good luck.

Steve