research-article

What do web users do? An empirical analysis of web use

Authors:

ANDY COCKBURN,

BRUCE MCKENZIEAuthors Info & Claims

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, Volume 54, Issue 6

Pages 903 - 922

https://doi.org/10.1006/ijhc.2001.0459

Published: 01 June 2001 Publication History

Abstract

This paper provides an empirical characterization of user actions at the web browser. The study is based on an analysis of 4 months of logged client-side data that describes user actions with recent versions of Netscape Navigator. In particular, the logged data allow us to determine the title, URL and time of each page visit, how often they visited each page, how long they spent at each page, the growth and content of bookmark collections, as well as a variety of other aspects of user interaction with the web. The results update and extend prior empirical characterizations of web use. Among the results we show that web page revisitation is a much more prevalent activity than previously reported (approximately 81% of pages have been previously visited by the user), that most pages are visited for a surprisingly short period of time, that users maintain large (and possibly overwhelming) bookmark collections, and that there is a marked lack of commonality in the pages visited by different users. These results have implications for a wide range of web-based tools including the interface features provided by web browsers, the design of caching proxy servers, and the design of efficient web sites.

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What do web users do? An empirical analysis of web use

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Reviews

Reviewer: Brian Grams

An evaluation of browser use by means of client-side logging of user activity is presented in this paper. The authors sought to update prior studies, and to provide an enhanced longitudinal analysis to contribute to future browser and browser-related technology design. The sample consisted of 17 computer science department personnel. Key in the discussions were URL revisitation and temporal characteristics. On the subject of revisitation, it would have been helpful if the authors had related this characteristic to URL traits, such as general information (news, weather), or occupation-related topics (discipline, programming). Even a rudimentary URL profile might have overcome some sampling bias, thus providing a more generalizable contribution to the literature. Addressing temporal characteristics, the authors indicated that many page visitations were short, indicating high interactivity. Unfortunately, the logging method employed provided only the time of the last site visit. While accounting for this was evidenced, it was not clear how this affected site visitation temporal analysis. Bookmark collections were characterized as rapidly growing and unmanaged. Given the study population, use and maintenance could be a function of multiple users on a single machine, or of convenience use not related to an individual user’s prevalent usage patterns. No explanation of the machine use environment, such as shared equipment, was provided. It would also have been helpful if the protocol used for evaluating invalid bookmarks, such as number of attempts to reach a site, were provided. A 404 “not found” error could indicate heavy network activity or network difficulties, not always an inactive site. Online Computing Reviews Service

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cover image International Journal of Human-Computer Studies

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies Volume 54, Issue 6

June 2001

145 pages

ISSN:1071-5819

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Academic Press, Inc.

United States

Publication History

Published: 01 June 2001

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An Empirical Analysis of Web Page Revisitation

Web page revisitation revisited: implications of a long-term click-stream study of browser usage

Integrating back, history and bookmarks in web browsers

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