Tabbed Browsing/Control Tab
This is quick description of the current iteration of Control+Tab and will be updated as the design changes.
Summary
Control+Tab is a new feature for Firefox 3.1 currently being implemented. It is a window which appears above the user's Firefox windows which displays thumbnails of all open tabs in most recently used (MRU) order.
The primary purpose of Control+Tab is visual navigation of content: the user can select a thumbnail to open rather than search through their open tabs to find a particular item.
The goals of Control+Tab are:
- flip back to a recent tab
- find a tab that isn't visible in window or tab strip by visual search
- find a tab that isn't visible in window or tab strip by text search
- browse through thumbnails of tabs
- manage content by deleting unneeded tabs
Previews in Control+Tab scale: if the user has few tabs, the thumbnails appear large. If the user has many, the thumbnails are small. Control+Tab only displays 24 tabs. If the user has more than 24 tabs open, left and right buttons appear which pan Control+Tab to the next screen.
Components of Control+Tab
- Thumbnails of open tabs - The user can either tab or mouse to a thumbnail to open that tab. A highlighted background shows which tab is active.
- Delete Button on an activated tab - The user can use Control+Tab to pare down their open tabs by pressing the delete button on an activated tab. This button only appears when a tab is active.
- Search Box - The user can begin typing with Control+Tab open to search for an open tab.
- Pagination Panels - Left and right buttons appear on Control+Tab if the user has opened more than 24 tabs. These pan over to the next page of thumbnails.
- Activation button in chrome - a small icon that launches Control+Tab
Activation
Control+Tab can be activated in two ways:
- Pressing Control+Tab on keyboard
- Pressing the Control+Tab icon in Firefox's chrome
Pressing Control+Tab on the keyboard brings up the Control+Tab window in a temporary state - if Control is released, Control+Tab disappears. However, if the user types any other letter, focus switches to the search box and the window becomes permanent unless dismissed by clicking the X or away from the screen.
Pressing the Control+Tab icon brings up the window in a more permanent state, only being dismissed by clicking the X or away from the screen. From this mode, the user can delete tabs, conduct searches, and pan to different screens.
While this system can be described as modal, it caters to both methods of search - MRU quick-searching and searching for a tab. If the user is just flipping back and forth, it's still the same keystroke to jump to the last used tab. If the user first wants to flip back to an MRU tab but realizes their tab is older (perhaps they've navigated between tabs and forgotten about it) or they want another tab than what they see in the first few MRU tabs, beginning a search means a switch from temporary to more persistent search. The interface key allows for more in depth search or deleting tabs when they're bogging down browsing. Also, advanced users may find that it's simpler to begin a tab search by hitting control+[tab+begin search].
Note: Control+Tab looks exactly the same whether activated on the keyboard or through the icon. Only its temporary/premanent state changes. Pressing Control+Tab on the keyboard and then any other key makes Control+Tab perform identically to pressing the icon.
Visual Design
Control+Tab looks native to whatever operating system it is running on. Most operating systems have a similar method of previewing content already built in. For instance, OSX allows all running applications to be viewed through Command+Tab, and Windows shows recently used windows through Alt+Tab. For such operating systems with preview panes already existing, Control+Tab is designed in a similar style to these preview panes.
