Firefox/Projects/Animation priorities: Difference between revisions

**How can we implement animation with minimum performance costs?

==Summary==

All of the browsers more or less treat tabs as real world objects. We describe them with real-world metaphors, like "dragging" and "tearing." And, we manipulate them like real-world objects we can, by rearranging and moving them. Thus, animation could help to reinforce this real-world metaphor while providing a visual affordance for how the tab is being manipulated.  

=2.Text search on page=

Currently, finding text on a page in Firefox can be challenging. The text is highlighted as the user types matching input, but this slow color change can be difficult to detect - especially when the highlight is similar to the background color. A subtle animation as the user types input could direct the user's attention to the word they are trying to find.  

=3. Movement of toolbar items within rows (UI elements, bookmarks, tabs)=

Currently, items in the toolbars can be added, removed, and rearranged.  By giving these items some slight animation, not only may Firefox feel more lightweight and adaptable, but it will be more visually clear what the user is manipulating and how the browser will be changed by letting go.  For instance, animations of tabs being arranged is essentially live preview of tab rearrangement: if a tab is slid to the right and an animation shows it doing so, releasing it only makes permanent what is being shown.  This is in contrast to the current system, where a small marker shows where a tab will be dropped but not what the arrangement will look like once is in that slot.  Other rows give no feedback at all: not even a bar.  The customize toolbar window, for instance, does not give an indication of what will happen when a UI element is added to the toolbar.