A while back, Smashing Magazine posted an article regarding links and stated that they should never open in a new window. Their argument was based on the theory that the user should always be in control. My first thought as an avid follower of what usability experts consider to be the Bible (Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think) was that they’re giving users far too much credit. Now that I’ve taken a deeper look at the issue, I realize that I was wrong. There needs to be more done than just using target=”_blank” or target=”_self”. This is bad news for lazy designers.
The truth is, users are just as lazy as they always have been. They’re just smarter now. They’ve become used to certain things of how the web works, and they’ve learned how to adapt to the standards we’ve set. Because there is such a divide between both designers and users alike, just having the link open in the same window and letting them guess whether or not they need to right click is not enough. There needs to be a standard set in place universally, and it needs to be something we can all agree on.
My suggestion? Hyperlink Cues 
. All of the above. Allow the user to choose whether they want it to open in the same window or not, but give users from both sides the opportunity to have their preference represented. This way all users are being catered to, and there is a universal standard. This seems so simple, I wonder why it hasn’t yet become the standard. Oh wait….back to those lazy designers…. (Don’t take it personally, we’ve all been one at one point or another.)
I’m not a designer, but I can’t agree that every link should open in the same window on every website. It should be very website-specific.
Still, your suggestion is really cool, I think I will use it, thanks.