Firefox/Projects/Control Tab: Difference between revisions

← Older edit

Firefox/Projects/Control Tab (view source)

Revision as of 22:10, 7 August 2009

671 bytes removed , 7 August 2009

m

moved Firefox/Sprints/Control Tab to Firefox/Projects/Control Tab: They're actually projects

Beltzner

Confirmed users, Bureaucrats and Sysops emeriti

3,599

edits

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
   johnath   technical advisor
-= Goals =
+= Status =
-* short term: disable feature to get out of 3.6's way
+* {{bug|465076}} landed
-* instead of backing out, want to land the revised UI pref'd off
+* browser.allTabs.previews and browser.ctrlTab.previews hidden prefs default to false
-= Non Goals =
+= Next steps =
+* polish
+* identify [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/showdependencytree.cgi?id=505404&hide_resolved=1 remaining bugs]
+* UI review
-= Use Cases =
+==Areas that need to be explored==
+'''Finalization of design open questions'''
-{| cellpadding="5" width="100%"
+:While use current use cases for tab and window navigation have been throughout explored throughout the project, to fully answer the last few questions some minor testing could be very helpful; both to see if the design is immediately understandable and if over time it can make users' workflows more efficient.  Ares for exploration include:
-|-
+:*Is the current design, with 8 previews becoming all of them, the most efficient way to present information?  Is it instantly understandable and does it fit well to the use cases of quick-switching and finding?
-| style="background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239); width: 50px;" | '''Name'''
+:*This design gives switching between recent tasks a higher priority than searching for a tab: could use confirmation in tests that this is the best interaction.
-| style="background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239); width: 260px;" | '''Description'''
+:**Disagree... There's a keyboard shortcut for searching (Shift+Ctrl+Tab), which is admittedly not as straightforward as Ctrl+Tab, but there's also a button on the tab bar, something that the switching-between-recent-tabs panel doesn't have. (dao)
-| style="background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239); width: 80px;" | '''Recall Method'''
+:*Can it easily become part of the browsing workflow?
-| style="background-color: rgb(239, 239, 239); width: 150px;" | '''Limit'''
+:*Does it enhance the quick-find, visual, and textual search use cases?
-|-
+'''Popup vs Tab'''
-| Quick-switcher
+:While this would be a significant departure from the current design, it may be worth exploring whether Control Tab would be better implemented in a tab rather than a popup window. Possible benefits of this approach:
-| <small>The user wants to switch to a tab they've used recently. Either they know exactly what order it's in, for instance switching back and forth between two items, or the know it was very recent but need to confirm the order.</small>
+:*Pros:
-| Short term memory
+:**Allows the user to make Control Tab a more permanent part of their browsing by keeping it open and referring back to it
-| 7 +-2 items
+:*Cons:
-|-
+:**Does not easily allow for "quick-switch" use case, unless window could be summoned with a button or keystroke, which could interrupt task flow
-| Visual seeker
+'''Other ideas'''
-| <small>The user knows roughly what a window looks like, but they don't remember the name of it. They're searching for key visual elements they remember, such as a big logo or a green background.</small>
+:It's been a long time since there's been active iteration on Control Tab, and since then many people have been thinking and iterating about ways to improve browser navigation.  Did any ideas come out of the past few months that are worth investigating and possible uplifting?  Possible places to look:
-| Visual
+:*[http://labs.mozilla.com/2009/07/design-challenge-summer-09-honors/ Mozilla Labs Design Challenge]
-| Longer search time the smaller the thumbnails, can be stumped by similar looking tabs
+:*[http://limi.net/articles/reinventing-tabs-for-the-browser/ Limi's head]
-|-
-| Text seeker
-| <small>The user knows the domain or title ("awesomebar info") of their tab. They could be looking for a site they use frequently ("slashdot"), or they might remember the content of a page that was opened awhile ago ("that article had 'bacon' in the title"). This user might know exactly that the tab looks like, but because of similar tabs they know a text search will be most efficient (ie finding that one Bugzilla page out of all the others).</small>
-| Long-term memory, terms that "stick out"
-| Needs quick access to text field, thumbnails are useless until search query made
-|-
-| Text and visual seeker
-| <small>This is the user that knows that tabs is somewhere, but doesn't remember it fully. It could be that they opened it so long ago that they forgotten what it looks like, or they remember part of the title but not enough to limit the search to one.</small>
-| Short and Longterm
-| Needs to be able to scan through all tabs easily
-|-
-| Browser
-| <small>This is a user who opens many tabs at once. It could be that they see tabs as "to-do" items for later, or open tabs to look at when they're bored, or simply never close their tabs and offload memory to keeping content open. This user may also want to delete certain tabs, or find that FIrefox is running slowly and want to delete many at once.</small>
-| none
-| Needs to be able to delete items easily and quickly without opening them
-|}
 = Design =
-* [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=465076#c2 Latest spec], November 2008
+* [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=465076#c2 spec] from November 2008
 ** Mockups based on spec: [[Image:Filmstriptabs1.png|300px|thumb|center]] [[Image:Alltabsview1.png|300px|thumb|center]]
 == Other reference ==
+* [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox3.1/control_tab Firefox3.1/control tab wiki], November 2008
 * [http://en.design-noir.de/mozilla/ctrl-tab/ Dao's Control Tab extension page]
 * [http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.dev.apps.firefox/browse_thread/thread/8edc711f65897d63# dev.apps discussion]
-* [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox3.1/themes/visual_navigation visual navigation wiki]
+* [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox3.1/themes/visual_navigation visual navigation wiki], June 2008
 * [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Tabbed_Browsing/User_Interface_Design/Possible_Features Possible feature wiki], June 2008
 * [http://jboriss.wordpress.com/2008/08/22/tab-view-vs-application-view/ Blog post: Tab View vs Application View], August 22 2008
 * [http://jboriss.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/tabs-want-to-be-seen/ Blog post: Tabs Want to be Seen], August 20 2008
 * [http://jboriss.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/control-tab-a-new-feature-for-firefox/ Blog post: Control-Tab: A New Feature for Firefox], July 16 2008 (dear sweet jesus)
-= Status =
-The pre-3.5 code is on trunk, where it was landed as a basis for further work. Further work has happened in terms of implementing beltzner's proposal from November 2008, but it never landed. We need to wrap that up and take it as our new starting point.
-== Bugs ==
-* {{bug|465076}}
-** implements [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=465076#c2 beltzner's proposal]
-** browser.allTabs.previews and browser.ctrlTab.previews hidden prefs default to false, allowing 3.6 to be shipped while the UI is in limbo
-** patch ready for review
-** [https://build.mozilla.org/tryserver-builds/dgottwald@mozilla.com-try-5130fa015e78/ latest tryserver build]