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It's just the HN effect; complain about the most minute details. Firefox simply wanted it to be more obvious that the address bar is in focus the moment you ope

It's just the HN effect; complain about the most minute details. Firefox simply wanted it to be more obvious that the address bar is in focus the moment you open a new tab.

Wowfunhappy 6y ago
Reddit was pretty annoyed too. I actually did a little real-life poll (I admittedly might care about minute details too much!), and everyone was either indifferent or negative. Indifference was more common, but, is that really a good outcome? > Firefox simply wanted it to be more obvious that the address bar is in focus the moment you open a new tab. Is that it? Because I'm still trying to figure this out! I'm just really surprised that this was a problem for a substantial number of users—the address bar already had a very prominent focus state with its thick blue outline.
- prophesi 6y ago
  Indifference shouldn't be surprising for a minute detail. I didn't even know about the feature until I saw this thread (clicking address bar expands it), since I normally immediately start typing once I open a new tab. I'd even argue that indifference should be the goal when making design changes; make subtle changes over time instead of the complete overhauls that are common today.
  - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
    I totally agree, but only if there's also either (A) some people who actually like the change or (B) the change is addressing a specific UX problem. If everyone is indifferent, why did you change anything?
    - roca 6y ago
      It is possible to fix UI problems without people noticing. Also, people quickly get used to suboptimal UI and all kinds of UI bugs. Fixing those bugs improves the experience for new users while acclimatized users will be indifferent or even hostile to the change. It's a classic dilemma for long-lived products.
- alpaca128 6y ago
  > the address bar already had a very prominent focus state with its thick blue outline. Either I never noticed or that very prominent focus state was invisible in the theme I installed. So yes, it was definitely one of the most regular issues I had with Firefox and now it's fixed. Not in the most elegant way but it works for me.
- boomboomsubban 6y ago
  >Indifference was more common, but, is that really a good outcome? Indifference among people already using Firefox is a good outcome if it is viewed favorably by people new to Firefox, which is who I would guess these kinds of changes are aimed at.
- igetspam 6y ago
  I'm shocked that was the goal but I also couldn't grok the intent. The bar doesn't need to expand and look silly to make it obvious it's the selected input. We have perfectly adequate elements for that already. I assumed there were new features that they were trying to highlight in a non obvious way.
stan_rogers 6y ago
If that was all it did, fine. It also does the suggestion list on focus rather than after you begin typing, obscuring the page. This makes click-and-copy to get the current URL a destructive action - you need to click outside of the address bar to see the page you were already on. The new "equivalent" is using the tiny ellipsis menu, a Fitt's Law fail.
- prophesi 6y ago
  Neither clicking on the URL nor hitting the keyboard shortcut to bring focus to the address bar is a destructive action. The URL is still in tact, and you're free to copy it immediately after either action. Let me know if I've got the issue wrong.

It's just the HN effect; complain about the most minute details. Firefox simply wanted it to be more obvious that the address bar is in focus the moment you open a new tab.

Wowfunhappy 6y ago

Reddit was pretty annoyed too. I actually did a little real-life poll (I admittedly might care about minute details too much!), and everyone was either indifferent or negative. Indifference was more common, but, is that really a good outcome? > Firefox simply wanted it to be more obvious that the address bar is in focus the moment you open a new tab. Is that it? Because I'm still trying to figure this out! I'm just really surprised that this was a problem for a substantial number of users—the address bar already had a very prominent focus state with its thick blue outline.

prophesi 6y ago
Indifference shouldn't be surprising for a minute detail. I didn't even know about the feature until I saw this thread (clicking address bar expands it), since I normally immediately start typing once I open a new tab. I'd even argue that indifference should be the goal when making design changes; make subtle changes over time instead of the complete overhauls that are common today.
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  I totally agree, but only if there's also either (A) some people who actually like the change or (B) the change is addressing a specific UX problem. If everyone is indifferent, why did you change anything?
  - roca 6y ago
    It is possible to fix UI problems without people noticing. Also, people quickly get used to suboptimal UI and all kinds of UI bugs. Fixing those bugs improves the experience for new users while acclimatized users will be indifferent or even hostile to the change. It's a classic dilemma for long-lived products.
alpaca128 6y ago
> the address bar already had a very prominent focus state with its thick blue outline. Either I never noticed or that very prominent focus state was invisible in the theme I installed. So yes, it was definitely one of the most regular issues I had with Firefox and now it's fixed. Not in the most elegant way but it works for me.
boomboomsubban 6y ago
>Indifference was more common, but, is that really a good outcome? Indifference among people already using Firefox is a good outcome if it is viewed favorably by people new to Firefox, which is who I would guess these kinds of changes are aimed at.
igetspam 6y ago
I'm shocked that was the goal but I also couldn't grok the intent. The bar doesn't need to expand and look silly to make it obvious it's the selected input. We have perfectly adequate elements for that already. I assumed there were new features that they were trying to highlight in a non obvious way.

stan_rogers 6y ago

If that was all it did, fine. It also does the suggestion list on focus rather than after you begin typing, obscuring the page. This makes click-and-copy to get the current URL a destructive action - you need to click outside of the address bar to see the page you were already on. The new "equivalent" is using the tiny ellipsis menu, a Fitt's Law fail.

prophesi 6y ago
Neither clicking on the URL nor hitting the keyboard shortcut to bring focus to the address bar is a destructive action. The URL is still in tact, and you're free to copy it immediately after either action. Let me know if I've got the issue wrong.