Most people find browser tabs confusing?

Question

I made a visual database app and one thing a lot of my users find frustrating is that each table opens up in it's own tab. They say things like they don't know how to go back to where they opened the table from (and would do things like hit the back button on a freshly opened tab). Some were lost when I would ask them to do things like "close the current tab". And so on.Browser tabs are so much more versatile than re-implemented tabbing within my app and I figured that since many people use Google Sheets/Docs/etc which also does this, then a tab per document/table/whatever would be familiar. Maybe I'm wrong. What does HN think?

detaro · Accepted Answer

Some random points, hard to say in detail:
Browsers tend to not automatically open new tabs though, but only if you explicitly do something to cause it.
Maybe many people do not use multiple tabs within one site/app, and that doesn't translate (There's probably some research out there on how people use browsers in practice)
Your app might look and feel too different from a browser or other tabbed environment. Does it clearly communicate where a new tab is opened, that you can't go back on it, ...?

brudgers · Answer

What does HN think?Don&rsquo;t matter. Listen to your users. Try not to argue with them. Good luck.

zzo38computer · Answer

I say don't make each thing open in its own tab, but use a standard link, so that if a user enters the command to open in a new tab (for example, middle-click on Firefox) then it will work correctly.