Bad Web Sites Can Cause "Mouse Rage"

Badly designed Web sites may have negative effects on a user's immune, cardiovascular, and nervous systems, a study says. "Mouse Rage Syndrome is recognizable by a quickening of the heart, profuse sweating, and furious clicking and bashing of the mouse. In extreme cases, the ailment can be identified by loud screaming at video screens."

The study combined data from a YouGov poll of 2,500 people with physiological tests on a separate sample of internet users, who were asked to find information from a number of different websites. It was commissioned by Rackspace Managed Hosting and published by the UK's Social Issues Research Centre.

It found that five technology flaws in Web sites may have deleterious effects and lead to Mouse Rage:

* Slow to load pages
* Confusing / difficult to navigate layouts
* Excessive pop-ups
* Unnecessary advertising
* Site unavailability