Firefox/Features/streamline-search

Status

Team

Open issues/risks

• If we default the search button to green (same as the go button in the location bar) if the search engine has not provided us with a color, will that cause any issues with our relationship with them?

Stage 1: Definition

1. Feature overview

The favicons in the search field are creating a significant amount of visual complexity in our product. They are using a wide range of colors, and they reduce the relative discoverability of nearby controls like reload and stop. Additionally the search field is causing a large number of mode errors, as users search the previous engine they selected for a new search term. This project aims to solve both of these problems.

This feature falls primarily in the Experience category (from the "Discover, Experience, and Connect" vision statement.)

Goals

• Pretty
• Reduced mode errors
• Increased focus on various engines as verbs (not that we care that much, but a side effect of the design)
• Increased brand awareness (not that we care that much, but a side effect of the design)

2. Users & use cases

• Search with a greater awareness of which search engine is activated
• Return to the search field after a long period of time and realize that your default search engine is not the currently active one
• Enjoy the visual simplicity and streamlined appearance of the field when it is not currently focused

3. Dependencies

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4. Requirements

• Getting major search engines to optionally specify a color that they would like to use when they are active bug 634140
• Implementing the changes, with engines without specified colors falling back to the same color as the active go button bug 592909

Non-goals

• Merge the search bar with the location bar (at this point)

Stage 2: Design

5. Functional specification

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6. User experience design

Mockup

Stage 3: Planning

7. Implementation plan

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8. Reviews

Security review

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Privacy review

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Localization review

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Accessibility

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Quality Assurance review

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Operations review

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Stage 4: Development

9. Implementation

• Reaching out to search engines to get colors bug 634140
• Implementation bug 592909

Stage 5: Release

10. Landing criteria

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Feature details

Team status notes