Currently, I have about 20 to 30 odd Tabs open in my Firefox browser. Excessive... probably, useful...absolutely. But how does this method of browsing effect the user experience of a site compared to traditional means?

As a web designer I'm constantly between browser tabs (and several other browsers for that matter!) to get the job done. In doing this at work all day, I've developed a chronic habit of tabbed browsing when generally surfing the net. It allows quick skipping between sites without having to wait for each page to load. Great!

Each to their own I say, but in the broader scheme of things, a LOT of people use tabs when browsing but a LOT more don't. Personally, if I was stuck with Internet Explorer 6, I would go totally nuts as support for tabbed browsing does not exist. This all leads back to user experience, retention and how the different methods of browsing effect how a site is ultimately viewed.

How do you cater to this? Well...with difficulty! A good start is to minimise clutter, enforce important information, use strong enticing visuals and be particular with how information on your site is structured . Make it memorable. The old saying: 'out of sight, out of mind' is quite relevant with the web I reckon. Especially when browsing with tabs. To a degree it's an advanced form of skimming so when a user comes to your site, they are quite likely to click to another no sooner than they have arrived so make it count.

Microsoft has described the term as 'Supercharged surfing', but they would!