> Holding Shift while clicking on the scroll bar jumps the thumb directly to the spot where you clicked.
In properly designed bars this is either a default or a configurable option. Moving your mouse to a far away bar and holding shift are more expensive actions than pressing PgDn (or a shortcut), so the action can't be just a page, it has to be something more valuable, harder to replicate
(the even smaller arrows at the top/bottom are even worse)
Completely agree. Besides, if clicking above/below the thumb is PgUp/PgDn, that means the buttons get smaller as you get closer to your destination, making them harder to press. Not good UX! The main counter argument to instantly moving I can think of, is that people may miss-click when trying to resize a window, and struggle to find their way back. Maybe a Ctrl-Z for window location history wouldn't be such a bad idea. You could piggyback off Vim's jump list which is navigable with Ctrl-O and Ctrl-I, though I'm sure a lot of applications already register those mappings.
Leave a visual "shadow" of the scroll knob at the old position every time somebody clicks the bar to jump. Then the user can quickly snap back to where they where.
Then they can also jump back and forth effortlessly between two places in a document.
Never seen it anywhere, but I think it would be very intuitive and practical.
The only somewhat similar function I've seen is on Kindle when you jump between footnotes or chapters, and they provide a very convenient interface for jumping back, but buttons instead of scroll bars.
eviks · · focus · HN ↗
In properly designed bars this is either a default or a configurable option. Moving your mouse to a far away bar and holding shift are more expensive actions than pressing PgDn (or a shortcut), so the action can't be just a page, it has to be something more valuable, harder to replicate (the even smaller arrows at the top/bottom are even worse)
TonyStr · · focus · HN ↗
carlosjobim · · focus · HN ↗
Then they can also jump back and forth effortlessly between two places in a document.
eviks · · focus · HN ↗
carlosjobim · · focus · HN ↗
The only somewhat similar function I've seen is on Kindle when you jump between footnotes or chapters, and they provide a very convenient interface for jumping back, but buttons instead of scroll bars.