Browser back button - behavior on gray area changes (ie. list/grid view)

Question

As in this research mentions, you should not break the back button (and Nielsen said it as well).

My question is in regard to 2 separate edge cases:

From the homepage you search on an e-commerce site for 'blue shoes'.

1. You change the view from list to grid view and then click the browser back button.
2. You change the listings from 24 to 48 per page and then click the browser back button.

What would the user expect when he presses the back button in each of these cases -> a reset in view (ie. bring you from the selected grid view back to list view, still on the same page) or back to the previous page (ie. homepage)?

Answer 1

If I were your user, my expectation is backing to the place which I previously come from, so refer to your user case, here is my answer

You change the view from list to grid view and then click the browser back button.

Back to the grid view.

You change the listings from 24 to 48 per page and then click the browser back button.

Back to the 24 per page.

Answer 2

You can not expect a mango tree to give you a coconut. Of course that almost every user will expect to return to the previous page instead of any other behavior just simply because that's the normal behavior of the browser's back button. Now, that said, you can modify the back button to fit your needs but you have to consider of it is absolutely necessary because you are breaking the normal journey of the user and you must have a real good reason for doing that.

Answer 3

You change the view from list to grid view and then click the browser back button.

If the list/ grid toggle action is persistent - say, it remains in the title bar - then the user is more likely to expect the back button to return then to the homepage. Otherwise, they are likely to expect the other view.

You change the listings from 24 to 48 per page and then click the browser back button.

Because changing the # of items is the list is similar to scrolling for more results, I believe that users will expect a back button to return them to the homepage.

Answer 4

Well, I think the question you need to ask is: Does changing the view mode feels like a new page?

Because (also as per your linked article) that is what users expect from the back button: It bringing you back to the previous "page".

Now, personally I don't think grid/list view toggling or changing the number of listings is "a new page", so I would expect the back button to bring me to whatever the actual previous page was (homepage etc). However, I am not your user!

If for example your target group is less adept with handling complex UIs, an action that completely changes the UI (list/grid switch) they might go "Oh no! What happened? Take me back! But in this case, back would mean to the other view, not the homepage.

TLDR:

Either do a best guess based on whether you feel it's a "new page" or do A/B testing based user research.

Answer 5

By default, the "back" button in the browser always takes you to the preceding page. This is not only about user experience but also about development infrastructure.

Modifying the display of products does not entail navigating to a different page, so the "back" button will lead you back to the home page.

and when changing the list view from 24 to 48 products, no transition to another page occurs, and everything takes place on the same page. If, however, the product area were paginated like on Amazon, and I navigated to page 2, the "back" button would indeed return me to page 1.

This is a development infrastructure that cannot be altered, and it's beneficial, as it aligns with what users are accustomed to.