I'm looking for research that outlines what computer monitor
resolution users have their monitors set to. Specifically, I'm looking
for usage for "online shoppers" as opposed to any old joe who owns a
computer. For example, what percentage of online shoppers are set to
640 X 480, 800 X 600, and so on. This research should be from a
reputable source with a scientific approach to the reserach. Thanks in
advance for your help. |
Request for Question Clarification by
maniac-ga
on
24 Jan 2003 18:30 PST
Hello Jboyden,
I can find studies based on usage of users on a variety of sites - not
those specific to shopping. There may be more specific studies (for a
fee) - one site charges $750 to $1500 for that kind of data. I can
also provide references to articles that basically state that your
design should be flexible and not be restricted to a specific
resolution. Would that kind of data meet your needs or do you need the
specific shopper data?
--Maniac
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Request for Question Clarification by
serenata-ga
on
24 Jan 2003 19:47 PST
Hi, Jboyden!
I have managed to get the most recent statistics on Internet browsers,
window size, screen resolution and other viewing setting. I was also
to obtain the latest shopping statistics (December, 2002) ... and the
percentage of online viewers who actually purchased something over the
internet for the same period.
I have not been able to find specific stats for window size,
resolution, browser used by shoppers (as opposed to those accessing
the intiernet for research, social/community/chat, etc.).
I suspect, however, that the pro rata figures can be drawn for the
equivalent proportionate amount of shoppers compared to the overall
wouldn't change much.
Would that information be of help to you?
Yours,
Serenata
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Clarification of Question by
jboyden-ga
on
24 Jan 2003 19:47 PST
Sorry, my Google Answers fee is as much as I'm willing to spend to get
the answer -- I can't afford $750 - 1500! :-) Maybe a more general
study (one not specific to online shopping) will be OK. Can you give
me an examle of the kind of study you're talking about? (And while I
appreciate the idea, I am not interested in websites that talk about
web design and the merits of flexible design.)
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Clarification of Question by
jboyden-ga
on
24 Jan 2003 20:06 PST
If by "screen size" you mean there's information that says X% of
online shoppers are at 800 X 600 pixels resolution, and Y% of users
are at 640 X 480 resolution, etc., then that information sounds like
exactly what I need. Thanks!
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Request for Question Clarification by
serenata-ga
on
24 Jan 2003 20:12 PST
Hi again ...
I "screen size" ... and I should have said "window size" or even
referred to the size of window they use for viewing web pages.
Remember, the newer browser has those nifty side tabs for indexing,
bookmarking, etc. In addition, those with larger sized monitors do not
necessarily view full screen ... many have their browser windows set
for a specific resolution and use the rest of the screen's real estate
for other purposes.
Sorry for the poor choice of words.
Serenata
|
Hi jboyden-ga,
In response to your above clarification, I have compiled statistics
regarding screen resolutions from various sources.
Here is a discussion that considers the best screen resolution to use
for web development based on a Mycomputer.com survey (1/01):
http://www.clienthelpdesk.com/statistics_research/average_screen_resolution.html
The data from the above link is as follows:
Resolution % of Users
640 x 480 8.9%
800 x 600 49.5%
1024 x 768 22.5%
1280 x 1024 2.0%
Unknown 14.8%
This web design site considers the following Web statistics:
1. 800x600 is the most common resolution in use (October, 2001),
approximately 50-55%.
2. 1024x768 is the second most common monitor resolution in use,
approximately 40-45%.
3. The use of resolutions above 1024x768 has increased only slightly
in the last two years.
4. The use of 800x600 resolution has declined only slightly in the
last two years.
There are also several other important points made:
Stay current on usage statistics and trends.
Carefully evaluate your target audience.
For existing sites, review log data regularly.
Don't make demands on your visitors.
http://webdesign.about.com/library/weekly/aa102401a.htm
Here is a screen resolution survey that answers the following
questions:
What screen resolution is your computer set to?
What size computer monitor do you use?
Do you usually surf with your browser window maximized?
Where do you most often surf from?
What screen resolution do you design for?
http://webdesign.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.brubakerstreet.com/cgi%2Dlocal/survey/survey.cgi%3Fsurvey%5Fname=survey
Another great source of current information on this topic is the
following site that has time series (quarterly) data from January 2002
to January 2003. The most pertinent information, of course, is the
screen resolution data:
Screen Resolution Jan 02 Apr 02 Jul 02 Oct 02 Jan 03
1024x768 or more 39% 41% 44% 45% 46%
800x600 52% 51% 50% 49% 47%
640x480 4% 3% 3% 2% 2%
Other or Unknown 5% 5% 3% 4% 5%
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
In summary, it appears that the current web development standard is to
assume screen resolution is 800 x 600, but as you can see from the
last source of data, there is a gradual shift from "800 x 600" users
to "1024 x 768 +" users.
Hope this gives you the insight you require to meet the needs of your
users. If you have any problems understanding the above information
please feel free to post a clarification :)
Cheers!
answerguru-ga
Google Answers Researcher |
Request for Answer Clarification by
jboyden-ga
on
25 Jan 2003 15:18 PST
Thanks, there's some good stuff in here. The link to
"clientthehelpdesk.com" contained an interesting article, but just the
percentages are what I needed and asked for, and what was there wasn't
specific to online shopping but more importantly was from January of
2001, so I had to dismiss it. I had also stumbled across the survey
you can take and then view the results, but the users taking it are
designers on a site about web design, so the data are very biased. But
it was the final link to "w3schools.com" that had the data I was
interested in. While the info wasn't specific to online shoppers (who
from past data I have seen have newer equipment than internet users at
large, it's probably pretty good). Here's my question, though. I'm at
a loss to figure out how reliable the information is -- the link to
"thecounter.com" doesn't say much about how the data are colleted --
like is it just from their customers using their software, and if so,
what kinds of customers are using their software, or is it people
visiting their site? (All this being said, of course I'll design a
site with a width of 740 pixels to allow the browser chrome and all of
that -- I'm thinking more about where the mythical "fold" is -- what
uses see before they have to scroll.) Anyway, if you could give find
me a sentence or two that says where this data comes from
(method/sample group), I'd be much appreciative. I have to be able to
backup what I say. In my original question I said this data has to be
from a "reliable source with a scientific approach to the research" so
I don't feel like I'm asking too much to just know where it comes
from. Thanks, this is great so far, though.
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Clarification of Answer by
answerguru-ga
on
26 Jan 2003 00:07 PST
Hi again,
From the help pages of www.thecounter.com, I was able to extract the
following link which provides more meaning to the statistics that were
previously provided:
http://www.thecounter.com/help.php#q40
The most pertinent information in here corresponds to the definition
of "Global Stats":
"Global Stats - This is a montly listing of the combined stats of all
of our users, and lists the total number of visitors for the month, as
well as most of the other stats defined above."
Considering that the main function of this site is to provide
counter/statistical information to webmasters, it can be deduced that
the resolution stats I had previously referenced have been collected
from all sites that contain a counter from this site. Consider a
visitor who views a web page containing this type of counter; the
functionality of the counter is not actually resident on the server
containing the HTML file. Therefore, information regarding visitors to
all such sites are ported back to thecounter.com where they can be
compiled as statistics. The good part about this is that there are a
wide range of sites using this counter, and so results are not tainted
by only considering a small subject group of sites.
This is all the statistical information that the site offers at this
time...I hope that is sufficient :)
Thanks,
answerguru-ga
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