When Browsing Gets Cluttered: Exploring and Modeling Interactions of Browsing Clutter, Browsing Habits, and Coping

Title of the Paper

When Browsing Gets Cluttered: Exploring and Modeling Interactions of Browsing Clutter, Browsing Habits, and Coping

Paper Information

• Subject Area: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Information Overload, Web Browsing Habits
• Keywords: Browser Clutter, Web Browsing Behavior, Information Overload, Coping Strategies, User Experience

Research Background and Problem

• Identified Issues or Challenges:

  • Users experience stress and confusion during browser usage due to excessive numbers of tabs and windows, cluttered web content and interactive elements, and complex navigation and search processes.
  • Current academic research on web browsing often focuses on isolated issues, such as tab overload or information presentation methods, with limited exploration of users' overall clutter experiences.
  • Users' habits and coping strategies may exacerbate or alleviate these issues, yet existing studies pay insufficient attention to these aspects.

• Significance:

  • Globally, over 5 billion internet users spend more than 40% of their waking hours daily using online browsers for work and entertainment. Cluttered experiences significantly impact users' productivity and satisfaction.
  • As browser functionalities become increasingly diverse and users' need to multitask grows, browser designs remain inadequate in supporting users' cognitive and task structures.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  • How to understand "browser clutter" and integrate multiple isolated issues (e.g., tabs, ads, navigation difficulties) into a comprehensive understanding of user experience.
  • Drawing on literature related to information overload and task switching to explore the impact of browser functionalities on user behavior and emotions.

Solution

• Proposed Solution:

  • Define "browser clutter" as a user experience characterized by stress and overwhelm while using a browser, categorizing it into four main forms: excessive tabs/windows, web ads and pop-ups, navigation difficulties, and disorientation during information search.
  • Conduct interviews and surveys (16 in-depth interviews and 400 online survey responses) to identify the sources of clutter experiences, coping strategies, and related behavioral patterns.

• Innovations:

  • Developed a comprehensive theoretical framework for browser clutter, offering a model that reveals the intrinsic dynamic relationships between behaviors, task characteristics, coping strategies, and clutter experiences.
  • Moved beyond specific issues like tab overload to integrate multiple dimensions, exploring users' adaptability and behaviors in complex browsing environments.

• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques:

  • Phase 1: Conduct 16 semi-structured in-depth interviews to identify the four forms of browser clutter, their sources, and coping behaviors.
  • Phase 2: Survey 400 users online, designing the questionnaire based on thematic analysis results, and use exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and regression modeling to quantify the relationships between clutter forms and user behaviors.

Research Findings

• Main Findings:

  • Four Forms of Browser Clutter: Clutter includes excessive tabs and windows, ads and pop-ups, navigation difficulties, and search disorientation. These forms are independent but moderately correlated.
  • Behavior-Clutter Relationships: Multitasking, tab habits, slow tab closure, and using multiple windows to distinguish tasks all exacerbate browser clutter.
  • Effectiveness of Coping Strategies:
    • Behavioral adjustments (e.g., actively closing tabs, organizing "work zones") can partially alleviate clutter.
    • Relying on social support or avoidance strategies (e.g., choosing to evade the problem) may worsen clutter.
  • Over 24% of survey participants considered browser clutter a serious issue, while most users regarded it as a minor problem.

• Strengths:

  • Systematically combines user experience with browser functionality usage behaviors to explain the sources of clutter.
  • Provides targeted insights for browser functionality design, emphasizing support for task organization and information structure management.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  • Multiple regression analysis shows that user behaviors, such as tab accumulation and task diversity, significantly predict browser clutter, while coping strategies like "active action" effectively alleviate navigation-related clutter.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • The study was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the extended reliance on online work environments may affect the generalizability of the findings.
  • Future research could further explore environmental factors (e.g., occupation, culture) and personality traits influencing clutter experiences, as well as conduct experiments to validate the dynamic relationships in the model and provide design optimization recommendations.

This study provides a theoretical framework and empirical support for understanding clutter experiences in browser usage, offering significant academic and practical value.