I’ve been seeing a lot of the new Snap Preview Anywhere windows on blogs that we visit frequently. Mike Arrington installed and reviewed them over on TechCrunch and so did Ryan Carson over at Vitamin and they both endorse the product at Snap.
Initially, I thought it was a neat idea to be able to embed screenshot previews of links in our own site, so as a user browsed, they could preview where the link when without clicking on the link and leaving our site. If anything, it might add to retention, giving users a “taste” of where the link is headed, but encouraging them to continue reading on our own blog.
We received a comment after Blake’s post about Snap from Anita who said:
I always thought the Snap technology was cool, but get REALLY annoyed by the little snap popup over every link, particularly if I’m just browsing.
If you read the comment stream at TechCrunch, you’ll see the same comments from readers on posts, like Ty who said:
This is off-topic, but I found no other way to contact Techcrunch about this: Is there a way to turn off the “snap preview” pop-up? I thought it was cool at first but now it’s just annoying seeing that little box pop-up every time I run over a link.
Frankly, the commenters’ opinions are what I am most interested in, because they represent the people the intrusion effects, but Lorelle on Wordpress has a negative opinion as does Ben the Instigator.
I think this an example of the fine line you have to walk with installing “gadgets” on your site. Does the Snap Preview popup add value for the reader or for the publisher? It is the reader’s experience that it affects, yet they have no control over it.
Newsweek has declared 2007 the Year of the Widget. There will be more and more opportunities to add plugins to blogs and sites this year, as more Ajax-based and javascript-powered plugins and widgets arrive. My feeling is that installing things that start to control and take over the readers experience can be annoying, and unless the reader has the ability to control these and turn them off, they are not worth violating the “browsing experience” with the reader. Will 2007 actually become the year of Popups 2.0?
In the end, to me they feel a lot like the advertising popups that were symbolized by the X10 cam in Web 1.0. Google and Yahoo even built popup blockers into their browser toolbars. Is someone going to invent a Snap Preview blocker? Probably.
I think it is worth weighing the value add and browsing experience cost to your users before you install gadget features like this. What do our readers think? Should we install them?
What do you want to bet that Popups 2.0 becomes a VERY popular catchphrase in 2007?
Thanks for linking over…nice to find your blog.
Ben, agreed, I think there are going to be a lot of these types of widgets, and unless the user can turn them on/off, they are Popups 2.0. Thanks for stopping by, dig your thoughts on the Instigator blog too.
Remember how as kids we blinged everything around us. Stickers on everything, posters everywhere, glitz on our clothes, hair and faces, and clutter on every flat and unflat surface. Busy, busy, busy. As we grow older and wiser, we understand that too much stuff is a distraction, and a time waster. The more clutter, the more to clean and dust. Some never grow out of it and it’s a lifetime of cleaning.
Blogs are also go through these phases. When you first get one, it’s your task to fill it to the brim with every gimmick and gizmo you can find, including Widgets. After a while, you realize that your site is slowing down and you have more bling than content. Slowly, you remove each fun toy you’ve become accustomed to, until clean and lean makes more sense.
As you think out the gimmicks, you realize how ineffective they are in keeping readers, your biggest goal. Luckily, before it became a rage, Snap Preview appears to have worn out its usefulness really quickly. I had fears of popups everywhere and people indifferently accepting them so they would spread. Thank goodness enough folks thought it out and realized that some gimmicks are just gimmicks. Unless you have a use, don’t use them.
Thanks for being one of those brilliant folks.
The snap popups aren’t as bad as the traditionals. I prefer opening links in a post with a new tab rather than seeing a preview that slows me down. It wouldn’t be difficult to provide users with the option to disable the snap 2.0 popups or any other widgets/gadgets.
Chris et.al,
My name is Erik Wingren and I head up UX Research for Snap.com — the company behind the Snap Preview Anywhere™ service.
First, I would like to thank you for sharing your feedback. Please rest assured that your viewpoints are informing the ongoing development of this product.
Second, I wanted to let you know that we are working on an update to the code that will allow end-users greater control of the Snap Preview behavior.
These controls include the delay before the previews appear, the size of the preview as well as opt-out — all available directly from the preview bubble. The first phase — with hover delay and opt-out — is scheduled for release late next week. Control of the preview size will follow the week after that.
In the meantime you, as readers of blogs that use Snap Previews, certainly have the option of preventing them from ever appearing. The current version requires a couple of steps:
1. When the preview bubble appears…
2. Click the ?-icon in the upper right corner to go to the FAQ page…
3. Click “Can I disable Snap Preview Anywhere?” link…
4. Click the opt-out link to set a cookie preventing the previews from appearing.
5. Repeat if you use more than one browser and/or if you blow out your cookies.
Finally I wanted to let you know that, in addition to making it easier for end-users to opt-out, we are working double-time on enhancements to enable site owners greater control of the implementation on their sites.
I sincerely hope you will continue to share your feedback as this technology develops.
Cheers.
–
Erik Wingren | Snap UX Research
erik@snap.com | +1.323.528.0058
Hi Erik -
Thanks for your comment. It sounds like you are on the right track with this technology. The ability for the user to maintain control of his or her own browsing experience is paramount in my mind. Giving the user the ability to opt-out will indeed do this. MyBlogLog recently added the ability to stop your picture from appearing as you browse sites by clicking the “x” in the upper right corner. Your solution seems to be in the same vein. I also didn’t realize there was the ability to disable it permanently already built in. Bringing this to the forefront with the opt-out right in the bubble will be a great enhancement. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. - Chris
[...] I wrote a post on Friday and was critical of Snap’s new Snap Preview Anywhere service. We had some interesting comments on the post including a thoughtful one by Erik Wingren, who heads up UX research for Snap.com. He wrote: I wanted to let you know that we are working on an update to the code that will allow end-users greater control of the Snap Preview behavior. [...]
snap? tänan, ei…
mingi aeg eelmise aasta lõpupoole levis uudis Snap’i kohta. uutest asjadest huvitatuna panin selle ka oma blogile peale. aga nüüd mõnda aega enam pole. eks püsikülastajad panid tähele ka. kõigepealt näiteks paljud blogisised lingid kuvati vis…