The Active Window & Calls to Action

If you have been reading our articles (thank you) you have probably seen us mention the term ‘active window‘ on a few occasions.

So what is the active window and why is it so important?

The active window is simply what the visitor sees on a web page without scrolling.

Simple, right?

Well, yes and no…

Not All Screens are the Same

The active window may a different size on your computer screen compared to your customers computer screen.

It all comes down to monitor resolution (define). As monitors are getting better, screen resolutions get higher.

Take a look at the following example:

NZ Herald active window at a screen resolution of 800×600* pixels

Approximately 5-7% of people use an 800×600 screen resolution.

NZ Herald active window at a screen resolution of 1024×768 pixels

Approximately 45-50% of people use a 1024×768 screen resolution

NZ Herald active window at a screen resolution of 1280×1024 pixels

Approximately 20-25% of people use this screen resolution

As you can see, the same website does not look the same on a screen resolutions.

The active window is larger on higher resolution monitors.

The problem crops up when you are designing or editing a page on a screen resolution of 1280×1024 when in reality 50% of your customers are viewing your site with a screen resolution of 1024×768.

That nice large call to action button sits prominently in your eyes, but is sitting below the fold on the majority of computers.

Please, don’t make me scroll!

A customer should not have to scroll to find key information or a call to action on a page.

You should be doing the hard work for the customer by placing calls to action prominently in the active window.

If your customer has to scroll to find a way forward through your website, you are asking too much.

Do not make the customer search for momentum.

But, come on - it’s just scrolling!

Sure, scrolling isn’t hard to do - most mouses (mice?) have those little wheels you can use to zip up and down a page right?

Well, what if you were reading a book and the next chapter wasn’t directly after the current chapter.

What if you were watching a TV program and you had to change channels to watch the ending.

That would be silly right?

Of course.

That’s why calls to action need to be placed in the active window to maintain momentum through a website.

*The NZ Herald website has been designed for a minimum resolution of 1024×768. Anything lower cuts off the right hand side of the page.