A mock-up on how to reconfigure search and location bar
ivan...@gmail.com
http://features20.blogspot.com/2008/11/access-bar-could-be-so-powerful.html
, but here is repost of the text:
Some time ago, I posted about Access bar and Natural language
navigation. Part of it was implemented in Firefox 3. But after using
Firefox 3, I find that applied concepts have many shortcomings:
* I see that most people still don't use natural language, but are
rather using location bar the same old way. I guess that big part of
the problem is that there are two boxes, and one is not sure which one
he should use. Eventually it might be the case sometimes even with the
expert users (myself), as they are not sure whether they have
something in history or not. If I am not sure where to type, I search
Google, as it is more sure that I will get the result. After a time it
turns into the habit;
* just the fact that location bar has URL on it by default (except
on start with blank page) translates into my subconscious need to type
in URL and not natural language, not to say about influence on
discoverability - finally, you shouldn't be typing natural language in
the box with URL;
* if you try to search bookmarks using location bar, many times
they won't appear, so you have to go to Library and repeat the thing.
And then after a time you go directly to Library to avoid the hustle.
It might even happen with history, but it is more rare case so it
doesn't turn into habit.
* Sometimes I am not sure which result is the wanted result, and
if I am wrong, I have to search again
* Obvious complaint is that location bar searches only Titles, and
not the full page, so it might be the case that I am not able to find
keyword.
All in all, my perception is that it has usability (but limited) for
me, and not so much for the average user.
Now, the solution:
Access bar
So the main idea is:
* keep just one box (access bar) for navigating the Internet, and
make it the box that appears first. This box is more like a search
bar, as location bar is now moved to the right, and its only purpose
is to show URL. Location bar is disabled and you can't type in. If you
click on it I guess it should have an icon to copy URL. Access bar
will now show your previous search, and thus instruct you that you
should normally continue with another search.
* the hardest part - integrate Google search into results. Here is
how it should work - based on the frecency of results from its index
browser calculates quality of internal results and decides how many
slots it should reserve for the Google results and what should be
their position. There should be always at least one slot for this
purpose, and those slots are indicated by search icon. At first slots
appear disabled, and when users pauses typing, they fill in with
results (just like Inquisitor extension). Of course, whenever you use
Google, you also get sponsored results, as Google wouldn't provide
this any other way. The one who doesn't like may disable this in
options.
* this is not dropdown, but overlay on page. The purpose is to
make it possible to middle click results and keep overlay shown as
tabs are opening in the background. I put even pin icon, so that users
not familiar with middle clicking or control clicking (and
unfortunately there are lot of them) can open multiple pages in
background with plain clicking. Of course there should be also and
keyboard shortcut to do this, like shift+alt+enter
* at the bottom of the overlay there is the option to continue
search through one of the options: History, Bookmarks, Google, other
engines. Ideally, Firefox should collect all engines one ever searched
(like Chrome) and show it here, but by order of how many times one
used them for searching. Eventually, they may disappear after some
time of not using, to keep things cleaner.
* of course, there are Google suggestions in tooltip. One can
switch to them by pressing right arrow, or by clicking mouse.
Just to note that things would have looked a bit cleaner if tabs were
on top (like Chrome), as you could get overlay closer to access bar.
But it would also look very good with Sidebar navigation I have
mentioned before.
Alex Faaborg
> rather using location bar the same old way. I guess that big part of
> the problem is that there are two boxes, and one is not sure which one
> he should use.
> * just the fact that location bar has URL on it by default (except
> on start with blank page) translates into my subconscious need to type
> in URL and not natural language, not to say about influence on
> discoverability
I'm also seeing this with users, and occasionally (even in my tech
centric circles) I encounter someone who doesn't know that you can
enter natural language into the location bar (as opposed to knowing
you can do this, but never actually doing it). Overall this has me
worried, because simply adding a useful feature doesn't by itself mean
that users will benefit from the feature. Adding the search bar in
Firefox 1 didn't actually help the users who rely solely on the Home
button (more on this below).
Outside of the discussion of the best way to collapse the location bar
and search bar together into a signal interface, is the question of if
we could even consider deleting a core piece of the Firefox interface.
It is a lot easier to add functionality than to take functionality
away, or collapse things together. Previously we've only removed
pretty minor functionality from Firefox, like clicking on the throbber
to go to mozilla.com, the ability to add textual labels to splitters
in the bookmarks organizer (and even in these minor cases, people
emailed in to complain, filed bugs with the regression keyword, etc).
But we have never tried to radically change user behavior to make
users more efficient.
I think the biggest problem right now is a lack of statistically
meaningful feedback on changes, that we can use in the event of
needing to defend good design decisions. For instance, let's say that
we made a change that is well thought out and 95% of users approve of.
Then lets say that of the people who hate the change, only 1% of them
will be proactive (or angry) enough to take the time to write in, or
file a bug to point out that the change sucks. So (given this comment
ratio that could very well be wrong) a change that has a 95% approval
rating with 10 million beta testers will theoretically result in 5,000
negative comments. Looking only at the 5,000 comments (and not
knowing what the overall approval rate is), it is really easy to
declare the change a failure.
Going back to my earlier comment about the search bar, it was
originally added to make searching the Web easier, since this is
something that users clearly do a lot. Before Firefox 1 added the
search bar to chrome, users would have to navigate to a search engine,
or in the case that their home page was a search engine, hit the home
button every time before doing a search. We still see this later
behavior a lot with Firefox 3 users, since the default home page
contains a search engine, the main use of the home button right now is
for users to (a little indirectly) search the Web. So really the main
toolbar contains three search interfaces, the home button, the search
bar, and the location bar. If we were to take the approach of
radically changing user behavior to make users more efficient, we
wouldn't just have introduced a search bar in Firefox 1, we would have
also taken the home button away so that they were forced to use the
search bar.
So I don't think we are ready to defend a change as significant as
merging the location bar and the search bar, given that when we tried
to move (not even remove) the home button, we relented under a barrage
of negative feedback, which at least felt like it was in the 5,000
range.
Does anyone know the status on Test Pilot?
-Alex
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John J. Barton
...
> I'm also seeing this with users, and occasionally (even in my tech
> centric circles) I encounter someone who doesn't know that you can enter
> natural language into the location bar (as opposed to knowing you can do
> this, but never actually doing it). Overall this has me worried,
You can enter natural language in to the location bar? Cool! Let's see:
where's the best pizza?
(no reply)
Who is alex faaborg?
(nothing)
What is natural language?
(nada)
Overall this has me worried, but then maybe computer folks have
redefined the meaning of "natural" or "language"....
In reality the location bar has keyword search for history (and
bookmarks?). Like all keyword searches it relies on a large pool of
choices indexed by unique keywords known to the user. If I don't have
much history yet, if the urls are opaque, and if I have to mentally
parse the URL to get a keyword, but my motor memory already stores
"http://..." then its just not going to be the total solution. Over
time my history will grow and my memory for the keywords will improve.
Right now I can already say it's a huge win if I remember the keyword.
I've given up on bookmarks, but not URLs.
jjb
John J. Barton
...
> * keep just one box (access bar) for navigating the Internet, and
> make it the box that appears first. This box is more like a search
> bar, as location bar is now moved to the right, and its only purpose
> is to show URL. Location bar is disabled and you can't type in.
Now you're just getting silly. Most URLs are not available via search.
jjb
Alex Faaborg
and phrases that people normally remember. But even when it comes to
searching part of URLs instead of entering every one from the
beginning people's habits limit the available functionality, just as
hitting Home to search is a habit.
-Alex
ivan...@gmail.com
> and search bar together into a signal interface, is the question of if
> we could even consider deleting a core piece of the Firefox interface.
did Firefox and Mozilla become major player from marginal player in
browser market? Is it by keeping all important pieces of IE interface?
I know many people who used history and email icon in IE 6 frequently,
even print icon might be used in corporate environment pretty
frequently.
Obviously, playing with core interface is a risky game. You may gain a
lot, but you may also lose a lot. But over the time, the most risky
option is not to play at all with it, as that is a sure way to lose,
someone else will do that and steal your users (BlackBerry, Palm and
company, say hello to iPhone). Yes you will keep some conservative
users, which would complain on changes, but over the time they will
follow the new leaders, and... you are in deep trouble.
Now more on exact topic. I don't think that in my proposition there is
anything like removing any functionality from Firefox. It is
reconfiguring, like I said in title. I keep both boxes, but one box is
for information purposes (location bar) and disabled for text input,
and the other box is for navigation. Things a just much more clear,
less cluttered, more transparent (one doesn't have to think whether he
wants to search his history, bookmarks or google and thus what he
should do, and even where his results came from) and more efficient.
ivan...@gmail.com
> beginning people's habits limit the available functionality, just as
> hitting Home to search is a habit.
> -Alex
some people did it, but default msn page was really not associated
with search). So habit is relative and changing over time, just if it
is not too difficult to switch and if award is good enough. Brave
people change (and changed) the World
Robert Kaiser
> It is a lot easier to add functionality than to take functionality away,
> or collapse things together.
That's so true. In the case of a mental experiment to collapse just
urlbar and searchbar into one, I already fail to see where the dropdown
for different search engines should go - things get much more
complicated if I think about merging the findbar into that as well (I've
gone through those thoughts a number of times imagining what SeaMonkey
could do).
I believe very much that thinking about all that is good though, because
perhaps we'll one time find a way to do this really nicely.
> Going back to my earlier comment about the search bar, it was originally
> added to make searching the Web easier, since this is something that
> users clearly do a lot. Before Firefox 1 added the search bar to chrome,
> users would have to navigate to a search engine, or in the case that
> their home page was a search engine, hit the home button every time
> before doing a search.
This is not completely true if I take the Mozilla suite as "before
Firefox 1" as that at least provided a "Search <search engine> for xxx"
item in the urlbar dropdown. SeaMonkey has this and typing any non-url
text in the urlbar and pressing enter takes you to searching that text
with your default search engine (this was partially supported by the old
suite). For many users who know about that, those functions replace most
of what the search bar is there for in Firefox - although it's less
discoverable and unfortunately we have no idea yet how to support
multiple search engines there.
> So I don't think we are ready to defend a change as significant as
> merging the location bar and the search bar, given that when we tried to
> move (not even remove) the home button, we relented under a barrage of
> negative feedback, which at least felt like it was in the 5,000 range.
The problem is that not everyone has their home page set to a search
page, even if many people do.
I for example have a local home page with (partially auto-generated
because date-dependent) frequently used links, a savable textfield for
notes and an iframe with my web-based calendar. Sure, not what Joe User
might have ;-)
Of course, Firefox targets the mass market, which sometimes might mean
deciding against the more technical audience for defaults. SeaMonkey's
job is easier by targeting the more technical folks here, but insects
with those heavily customizing Firefox in some areas, I guess ;-)
In any case, it's clear that 1) improvements to that urlbar and find
story are very much possible but not easy, 2) no interface fits all
people, some groups can work better with alternate approaches.
Robert Kaiser
Mark Gosdin
> and search bar together into a signal interface, is the question of if ?
> we could even consider deleting a core piece of the Firefox interface.
OK, one of the 5000 chiming in here.
I thought & still think the never to be cursed sufficiently Smart URL
Bar was bad.
This idea, well it's in a league by itself.
I'm one of the users that you really don't like and appear to want to
drive off. In my early use of Firefox one of the first things I did was
drag the Search Box back into the Toolbar Toolkit and forget about it.
I have a habit long established of using search engine home pages to do
my research.
I don't want the browser, Firefox, Opera, IE or whatever, I do not want
them to do the search engine's job. The browser's job, as I see it, is
to display the Web content that I'm interested in. I want it to do that
job and do it well. The rest is just fluff as far as I am concerned,
rather like Chrome on a 50's Chevy, pretty to look at but not very
functional.
If this is the direction that Mozilla thinks Firefox should go, which is
honestly not yet known. Then I would suggest that for the 500,000
users, who are represented by the 5000 complaints, that a provision be
made within the Standard Firefox Options ( NO About:Config garbage ) to
fully and completely revert to conventional browser functionality.
Thank you for your time.
Mark Gosdin