Firefox/Projects/Animation priorities
Summary
The purpose of this sprint is to design and develop three key areas that we feel Firefox would benefit from animation:
- Tab tearoff
- Text search on page
- Movement of toolbar items within rows (UI elements, bookmarks, tabs)
Introduction
Animation in the browser is a tool, but not a goal unto itself. Wherever animation is used, it should be with a definite and purpose and benefit to the user.
Like many web technologies, animation is a useful but easily abused tool. The early web and the dawn of the .gif format saw animation heinously overused websites, with blinking, spinning, and scrolling animations thrown in because they "looked cool." As the web stopped foaming at the mouth and begin the transition to what could be done to what should be done, animation became used more successfully as a tool. Some ways in which animation can be useful include:
- Making browsing feel faster
- Adding visual affordances to makes tasks more understandable
- Making the browser and tasks more visually appealing
To bring animation to Firefox, we decided to first focus on three key areas that we felt would give users the most benefit by adding animation. Out of many possibilities, we looked for places where animation would make interactions feel faster and help users perform tasks.
Status
Phase 1 (first two weeks, ending August 15):
- Competitive analysis of animation in browsers/software
- Brainstorming areas for animation, narrowing down the possibilities down to three areas for focus
- Sketching & making mockups of the three areas of focus
Phase 2 (second two weeks, ending August 28)
- Iterating on mockups and sketches
- Getting feedback from the community (including blogging, forums)
- Planning implementation, finding developers interested
- (possibly) Creating quick iterations with interested developers
Near Term Goals
- Add tangible benefit to Firefox's user experience by exploring, developing, and implementing browser animation (starting with three)