Does anyone know where I can find a list/ chart of the actual final window size in various browsers? For example, what is the biggest size(area) that I should design for if it is to be optimized for someone running: Windows XP, Internet Explorer 6, 800x600, taking into account default address bar and side scroll bar size. Does such a reference exist? Anything close? Please point me in the right direction
Only the width matters, really. People don't mind scrolling vertically. I usually design 50px spammer than the width of the resolution, so 750px for an 800x600 monitor. But I usually design for a 1024x768 minimum.
yes thats a good point , pretty much goes 1024x768 ( im getting about 27% on google analytics ) and the rest are even higher ....
Thanks for the 50px tip, but there is no definitive list? I know that 1024x768 seem to be the norm, but I was most interested in how much vertical space is usable (above the fold) for all possible sizes using various browsers and with different, popular tool bars taken into account Any insights?
The sad truth is there is no definitive fold, since any number of third party add-ons (such as toolbars and browser plugins) can reduce the viewable area on an individual browser at any resolution or setting.
hi, i agree, well said. i think designing for 1024*768 is just rediculous. there are plenty of people out there who do not have this resolutions. sad but true, i look at my visitors OSs and many people visit with win98 and win95 still. i even get a win 3.1 sprinkled in every once in a while. i think stuffing content into a wider area is retarded. everything you need to be "informative and useful" should fit into a 750 width. kevin
Not only that, but not everyone will be browsing with their browser maximized or in full screen mode either.
What the... 5 fashion sites for data on how European males maximise their browser windows? Gah! Here's the rule: if everyone can comfortably read your site, you're cool.
I believe he said the study was aimed at a broad general audience with one (his) site thrown in that probably attracted more technically savvy males. He also stated that the site types were selected to be comparable to other studies. Further, you should roll your own to discover what your visitors are up to. On the whole, it is a flawed study that's probably as good as it gets. I do feel it is a reasonable picture of the way a non-technical, likely heavily female, audience browses. Take the study with a grain of salt, if you will, but don't pooh-pooh it too much, unless you have one better. True, true. cheers, gary
Eh, I didn't mean to poo too much, but 5 sites with all the same sort of content (minus his) did seem like it would really get a skewed result. I didn't look at which fashion sites they were, but I notice as a whole they are generally very Flash heavy and visually designed to the max... possibly even encouraging someone who normally browses with a smaller screen to open to full-width... Didn't mean to come off all bitchy : ) Any research is better than no research.
I considered the same possibility. My impression is that the data is gathered upon opening the the entry page, which would precede any re-sizing. cheers, gary
In my stats there is still a sizable minority using 800x600 size screens. So any design should work on that. Since people can have all kinds of size screens, there's just no way to optimize for all. Just trust your own stats on what the biggest group is (probably the 1024x768 group) and make it optimal for that, while taking the smaller size into account - and making sure things don't become annoying at bigger sizes. Usability studies do suggest most people maximize their screens. Especially the people who aren't going to be computer savy enough to make it smaller if it looks better that way.
^ why flex-width is pretty awesome if you can pull it off (depends on the design you're starting with). Nice for small screens, not microscopic on the big ones. I've done it on a few sites now and I love it! The only thing that stops me on one site is the horizontal dropdown menu doesn't allow the page smaller than 1024 : ( My mistake using such a menu... I'll never let a design limit me like that again!