Extension Manager:UI Update: Difference between revisions

:*Allow new forms of addons, such as jetpacks and personas, to be maintained and configured easily alongside traditional addons  

:*(at best) Provide users with a consistent place to go for a particular addon's preferences, or (at worst) provide users with a consistent place to go to launch a particular addon's preferences  

:*User questions addressed:  

:**"What addons do I have installed?"  

:**"Do I have Foxmarks installed?"  

;2. Updating

:*Indicate to the user that updates are available without blocking the startup of Firefox  

:*Allow the user to choose silent updates if they prefer, and for those updates to happen without interfering with browsing  

:*User questions addressed:  

:**"What addons have an update available?"  

:**"Is there an update available for Flash?"  

;3. Installing

:*Streamlining the install process to as few steps as possible  

:*Providing the user with a clear indication of the process and what actions are needed, especially in the face of possibly differing install experiences per addon (restart required vs not)  

:*User questions addressed:  

:**"How do I install this addon?"  

:**"What is the next step to install this addon?"  

;4. Discovering

:*Providing a compelling first run experience to new addons users, including showing what addons can do in a way that makes sense to non-technical users  

:*Allowing users to search for addons from within the Addons manager, only requiring a visit to AMO when greater community involvement or information is sought  

:*User questions addressed:  

:**"What are addons?"  

:**"Why would I want to install an addon?"  

:*(possibly) Provide a way to rank addons by size, RAM, etc to see if disabling one would give a significant performance boost  

:*(possibly) Use some heuristics to determine if a particular addon is causing problems  

:*Give clear communication and instructions if there is a security problem with an addon  

:*User questions addressed:  

:**"Is an addon causing Firefox to crash?"  

'''Tier One: ''' <br> '''Basic Functionality'''<br>Minimum features needed for usable addons manager, would substantially change in any redesign, incorporation of newer forms of addons (jetpacks, personas) cannot happen without. The functionality here is not provided anywhere outside of the addons manager  

'''Tier Three''':<br> '''Enhancements<br>'''Features that are currently barely present in addons manager but could provide substantial value to users. The functionality provided by these is available outside of the addons manager, but could be provided within it  

| <br>

== Redesign Themes ==

=== Distraction and Interruption ===

A large theme in the addons redesign will be the attention of the user - especially when to insist on it and to what degree.  

A common criticism of the current addons manager design is that it demands the attention of the user too often, and especially when the user is engaged in another task. For instance, when the user launches Firefox, he often is presented with an addons manager window announcing that updates are available and suggesting that the user download them at that moment. Since the user is launching Firefox, it's reasonable to assume he has a task in mind to perform and that his intention is unlikely to be installing addon updates. The appearance of the addons manager window over the main Firefox content area presents a break in the users' workflow by forcing him to take an action before he can begin the task he intended.  

The balance of when the addons manager should be prominent and when it should recede from focus will be a challenging one to strike. The management of addons itself can be thought of as a "background" task, removed from everyday browsing, much as the Preference menu should be. Aside from some maintenance and configuration of a user's addons, the user should expect addons to perform their intended function without requiring much care or maintenance on their part.  

As with bookmarks, preferences, and many other parts of Firefox, some users will want to optimize and micromanage their addons manager to tailor-make the best browsing experience for them. Others will want to install a few addons and never have to deal with the addons manager ever again. A successful addons manager redesign will allow an addons user to be on either side and have a good user experience. The current addons manager could be said to cater to the micromanaging addons user: it often alerts users of new updates and provides many configuration options for individual addons. Ideally, if a user wants updates for a particular trusted addon to be installed silently and automatically, he should have this option.  

Some of the addons manager functions should not disrupt the user unless summoned, other should give notifications subtly, while others need to divert the attention of the user to them.

Functions that should not disrupt the user:

*The appearance of the addons manager itself. While there may be links to the addons manager within the browser (for instance on the Home Tab), the user should not see the addons manager unless they've summoned it.

Functions that should give notifications subtly:

*When updates are available. The availability of updates should not get in the way of user's browsing experience or present obstructions that force the user to act. The user should be given the ability to make updates for a particular addon or all addons install automatically.

Functions that should actively seek the user's attention:

*Steps in the addons installation process. Each step should actively focus the user's attention on the next step. Anyone should be able to install an addon after four shots of whisky.

*Confirmation that a user has chosen to uninstall an addon, as well as any warning about preferences that will be lost as a result.

*Notification that an addon has been automatically disabled or uninstalled because of a security vulnerability, as well as a link to more information about the specific case.

<br> [[Image:Smallnotification tolarge.png]]  

== Focus on Tasks rather than Addons ==

Addons are one of the biggest benefits of using Firefox over other browsers. While other browsers are beginning to offer addons and develop communities around them, none of them yet come close to approaching the diversity and scale of Mozilla's addons community. However, only about 30% of Firefox users currently have any addons installed.  

While getting every Firefox user to install addons is not the goal, making them more accessible to more users would benefit both users and developers. A common criticism of the current addons manager is that it is easy to find an addon by name, but less so by functionality. This redesign will seek ways for users to find addons based on how they browse or functionality they want rather than only by addon type.  

;Other contacts  

:<br>

**Atul, Aza

Firefox 3.7  

This project is currently in the planning and early design phase. The participants in the Sprint are gathering requirements and meeting with Addons, Jetpack, and Personas developers and planners to determine what changes need to be made to the addons manager to reflect the longterm goals of Firefox.  

Mossop is currently rewriting the whole motherfucking API.  

== Extra Images ==

 

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