Closed Bug 1220932 Opened 9 years ago Closed 9 years ago

"Open multiple links" is a confusing feature name

Categories

(Firefox for Android Graveyard :: General, defect)

All
Android
defect
Not set
normal

Tracking

(firefox47 verified, relnote-firefox 47+, fennec47+)

RESOLVED FIXED
Firefox 47
Tracking Status
firefox47 --- verified
relnote-firefox --- 47+
fennec 47+ ---

People

(Reporter: antlam, Assigned: sebastian)

References

Details

Attachments

(2 files)

We tried to come up with a name that was better than "Tab queues" but it seems to be much more obvious than we originally thought. I'd like to suggest that we officially rename this feature to "Tab queues" now since that seems to be more well received. Thoughts?
I wanted to file exactly the same bug too. :) I think "open multiple links" is vague. Afaik we use "Open in background" in the release notes too.
I know we have the title "Opening multiple links?" in the Helper UI but I think that's fine. I think renaming the Settings pref is all we need to do here. The trickier thing is it is now in release so this change isn't as straight forward. But, maybe it is. Barbara, Mfinkle, what do you think?
Flags: needinfo?(mark.finkle)
Flags: needinfo?(bbermes)
Actually calling this feature "Tab Queues" is OK. When talking about the behavior, I usually prefer "opening links without switching apps" or "opening links to view later". "Opening multiple links?" doesn't fit my mental model of the behavior since I use this for even a single link.
Flags: needinfo?(mark.finkle)
I feel since we've already called it TQ and has been picked up by the media, I feel it might be too late to change it, we could add an explanation to it, maybe one that mfinkle proposed, or e.g. It's the right-mouse click, open in new tab on Mobile or something. Thoughts?
Flags: needinfo?(bbermes)
Good practice or learning is that product / and marketing / copy should propose naming awesome features like this one to avoid confusion.
(In reply to Barbara Bermes [:barbara] from comment #4) > I feel since we've already called it TQ and has been picked up by the media, > I feel it might be too late to change it, we could add an explanation to it, > maybe one that mfinkle proposed, or e.g. It's the right-mouse click, open > in new tab on Mobile or something. > > Thoughts? I'm a bit confused now... The issue this bug is trying to solve is that we _don't_ already call it "Tab queues" in our Settings. But, everyone seems to refer to it as that. So, I'd like to propose we rename it to "Tab queues" in our Settings. It's currently called "Open multiple links" in our Settings. (In reply to Barbara Bermes [:barbara] from comment #5) > Good practice or learning is that product / and marketing / copy should > propose naming awesome features like this one to avoid confusion. I'd definitely love some help from you naming these things in the future :)
Flags: needinfo?(bbermes)
(In reply to Barbara Bermes [:barbara] from comment #5) > Good practice or learning is that product / and marketing / copy should > propose naming awesome features like this one to avoid confusion. Tab Queues is a perfect code name for the feature. Some of the effort related to the feature was trying _not_ to actually name it (Firefox's Awesomebar is another example), but just describe what it does in layperson terms. I don't feel like we can name something "Tab Queues" and expect people to immediately understand what the feature does. We still need to provide copy that helps guide people into understanding, and deciding to use that feature.
(In reply to Mark Finkle (:mfinkle) from comment #7) > (In reply to Barbara Bermes [:barbara] from comment #5) > > Good practice or learning is that product / and marketing / copy should > > propose naming awesome features like this one to avoid confusion. > > Tab Queues is a perfect code name for the feature. Some of the effort > related to the feature was trying _not_ to actually name it (Firefox's > Awesomebar is another example), but just describe what it does in layperson > terms. I don't feel like we can name something "Tab Queues" and expect > people to immediately understand what the feature does. We still need to > provide copy that helps guide people into understanding, and deciding to use > that feature. What reading level is required for someone to know the word "queues"? Even if we provide help text, it's pretty bad if people don't know that English word (in North America, I think this is mainly a computer science term, since we say "line" for the "wait on line" meaning). I don't think we should be so sensitive to the tech press we've received. Although they've picked up on this term, they're not normal users. I agree we need to come up with a good name for this feature, but I want to make sure it's something people can grasp.
(In reply to :Margaret Leibovic from comment #8) > (In reply to Mark Finkle (:mfinkle) from comment #7) > > (In reply to Barbara Bermes [:barbara] from comment #5) > > > Good practice or learning is that product / and marketing / copy should > > > propose naming awesome features like this one to avoid confusion. > > > > Tab Queues is a perfect code name for the feature. Some of the effort > > related to the feature was trying _not_ to actually name it (Firefox's > > Awesomebar is another example), but just describe what it does in layperson > > terms. I don't feel like we can name something "Tab Queues" and expect > > people to immediately understand what the feature does. We still need to > > provide copy that helps guide people into understanding, and deciding to use > > that feature. > > What reading level is required for someone to know the word "queues"? Even > if we provide help text, it's pretty bad if people don't know that English > word (in North America, I think this is mainly a computer science term, > since we say "line" for the "wait on line" meaning). > > I don't think we should be so sensitive to the tech press we've received. > Although they've picked up on this term, they're not normal users. > > I agree we need to come up with a good name for this feature, but I want to > make sure it's something people can grasp. My point is that you can't get people to grasp the feature from a "name". It's the secondary copy that will really inform them. "Tab Queues", "Open Later", "Open in Background" - none of those are enough to explain the feature.
I agree. And press isn't the only reason I'm proposing this either. It just seems like we over-thought the problem early on. This is what it'll look like altogether (subtitle and all) Tab queues Save them until the next time you open Fennec I also ran these through readability-score.com before suggesting them: "Open multiple links" has an average grade level of 10.8 "Tab queues" has an average grade level of 3.4
As a non-native English speaker I wonder why we are talking about "Queues" and not a (single) "tab queue" btw. Is tab queue(s) a good name for future iterations of the feature? Doesn't the queuing exist because of technical challenges we faced? "Open in Background" (e.g. open things without going to the app) sounds more like the thing we want to build?
We're going to close as a WONTFIX for now. Great points all around I think. But after talking to Barbara some more, perhaps we don't have an immediate need to revisit this now. It also does seem a bit late. Perhaps something to keep in mind for next time :) Thanks team!
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 9 years ago
Flags: needinfo?(bbermes)
Resolution: --- → WONTFIX
Apology Anthony, probably still didn't really get it until just chatted with mfinkle. Here my suggestion, run this by Matej to a) come up with a dedicated feature name (up for discussion, optional) b) confirm wording in settings to make the appropriate change for settings re-org. Suggestions so far: "Open multiple links" --> "Open links in background" Matej, happy to chat in person with you.
Flags: needinfo?(matej)
Flags: needinfo?(alam)
Reopening
Status: RESOLVED → REOPENED
Resolution: WONTFIX → ---
Status: REOPENED → NEW
(In reply to Anthony Lam (:antlam) from comment #10) > I agree. And press isn't the only reason I'm proposing this either. It just > seems like we over-thought the problem early on. > > This is what it'll look like altogether (subtitle and all) > > Tab queues > Save them until the next time you open Fennec I believe we came up with the description specifically to go with "Open multiple links" as the title. The problem with changing the title back to "Tab queues" and keeping the description the same is that it sounds like the queues are being saved, not the tabs (or it's at the very least ambiguous). If we change one, we have to change the other as well. > I also ran these through readability-score.com before suggesting them: > > "Open multiple links" has an average grade level of 10.8 > > "Tab queues" has an average grade level of 3.4 This really surprises me. "Queue" isn't a word that comes up very often in day-to-day conversation. I would strongly recommend doing some user testing to confirm that people will understand what it means. Even as someone who does understand it, I'm not at all clear what a "tab queue" would do. I would think it has more to do with viewing things in a sequence rather than viewing them later. (In reply to Barbara Bermes [:barbara] from comment #13) > > Matej, happy to chat in person with you. Sure thing. Let me know.
Flags: needinfo?(matej)
So even if we don't come up with a new feature title (Tab Queue etc.), I believe the notion is that some people favor "Open links in background" as the title >>Actually calling this feature "Tab Queues" is OK. When talking about the behavior, I usually prefer >>"opening links without switching apps" or "opening links to view later". "Opening multiple links?" >>doesn't fit my mental model of the behavior since I use this for even a single link. and then we could revisit "Save them until the next time you open Firefox" or keep it as is.
Flags: needinfo?(matej)
(In reply to Barbara Bermes [:barbara] from comment #16) > So even if we don't come up with a new feature title (Tab Queue etc.), I > believe the notion is that some people favor > > "Open links in background" as the title This doesn't get at the idea of "later" for me. It seems more like they're going to be behind what I'm currently doing and that I'll see them as soon as I finish my task or close the app. I do think it's better than "Tab queue," though, and works with the description below. > >>Actually calling this feature "Tab Queues" is OK. When talking about the behavior, I usually prefer >>"opening links without switching apps" or "opening links to view later". "Opening multiple links?" >>doesn't fit my mental model of the behavior since I use this for even a single link. > > and then we could revisit "Save them until the next time you open Firefox" > or keep it as is.
Flags: needinfo?(matej)
Hm... I think the description/subtitle is generally fine. But the one thing I'd say could be clearer (if we change the Title) is "them" since we might lose the context of "links". "Save links until the next time you open Firefox" seems to fit more. As for "Tab queue" vs. "Open multiple links" or "Open links in background", I think the main concern I have is that it's a mouthful to say. Without a quick & easy way to say it, it makes talking about it (and in turn getting other people to use it) harder. Accurate or not, I think this feature is easier to talk about when it's referred to as "Tab queue" rather than "Open multiple links" (as an example). Perhaps like the name "Awesomebar", its more about creating the name that enables conversation rather than trying to teach users what it does? For example, this does feel a bit like a power user feature to me and people seem to be willing to benefit from it, if they can find it after seeing an article refer to it. That being said, I'm not terribly set on Tab queue, I just think it should read easier and i think some articles have referred to it as that :) happy to hear more suggestions! Thoughts?
Flags: needinfo?(alam) → needinfo?(matej)
(In reply to Anthony Lam (:antlam) from comment #18) > Hm... I think the description/subtitle is generally fine. But the one thing > I'd say could be clearer (if we change the Title) is "them" since we might > lose the context of "links". > > "Save links until the next time you open Firefox" seems to fit more. If we keep "links" in the title, I'd prefer not to repeat it in the description. It feels unnecessary and not as clean. > As for "Tab queue" vs. "Open multiple links" or "Open links in background", > I think the main concern I have is that it's a mouthful to say. Without a > quick & easy way to say it, it makes talking about it (and in turn getting > other people to use it) harder. > > Accurate or not, I think this feature is easier to talk about when it's > referred to as "Tab queue" rather than "Open multiple links" (as an > example). Perhaps like the name "Awesomebar", its more about creating the > name that enables conversation rather than trying to teach users what it > does? I get what you're saying, but we don't use "Awesome Bar" in the product and we even try to minimize usage of that term in marketing communications. Even with something like Private Browsing, we say "Open Private Window" on desktop rather than using the name of the feature. I think it's more beneficial to give the user a description rather than a name, especially if that name isn't particularly intuitive. That's not to say that I think "Open links in background" is the best option, but I'm not sold on "Tab queue" as the language to use in product.
Flags: needinfo?(matej)
We need to fix this, this feature name is still too confusing. Since this will require a string change, the earliest we can ship this is 47, but let's please do that.
tracking-fennec: --- → ?
Flags: needinfo?(bbermes)
Flags: needinfo?(alam)
Summary: Consider renaming "Open multiple links" and "Open in background" to "Tab queues" → "Open multiple links" is a confusing feature name
Talked to Matej about this during the week... NI-ing him here for context tl;dr - right now it's between "Tab queue" Vs… "Open later" I think - I'm still leaning towards "Tab queue" since they are all going to open in Tabs. They're essentially links we hold onto that will turn into Tabs. This is a tough one though - anyone else have thoughts? Given feedback, I'd suggest we go with Tab queue for the time being. It does address a lot of concerns and we seem happy with that. We can always revisit this later as well if it doesn't facilitate conversations well or there's other concerns like localization :)
Flags: needinfo?(alam) → needinfo?(matej)
(In reply to Anthony Lam (:antlam) from comment #22) > Talked to Matej about this during the week... NI-ing him here for context > > tl;dr > > - right now it's between "Tab queue" Vs… "Open later" I think > - I'm still leaning towards "Tab queue" since they are all going to open in > Tabs. They're essentially links we hold onto that will turn into Tabs. I still worry that both "tabs" and "queue" aren't very friendly, user-facing words, but it sounds like I'm in the minority on that. Maybe a compromise would be something like "Queue links." My hypothesis is that users are more familiar with "links" than "tabs" and putting "queue" at the front makes it a verb (therefore more active), which describes what the feature does, rather than what it's called.
Flags: needinfo?(matej)
(In reply to Matej Novak [:matej] from comment #23) > I still worry that both "tabs" and "queue" aren't very friendly, user-facing > words, but it sounds like I'm in the minority on that. > > Maybe a compromise would be something like "Queue links." My hypothesis is > that users are more familiar with "links" than "tabs" and putting "queue" at > the front makes it a verb (therefore more active), which describes what the > feature does, rather than what it's called. Hm, yeah I do see what you're saying. But then we do also call out "tabs" in many places of our visible UI. Maybe that's why it doesn't feel _that_ unfamiliar to me ? New Tab, New Private Tab, Recent Tabs, Synced Tabs, Restore tabs, ... and then there's the Tabs tray which is where these Queued "links" end up...
"Tab queue" has been a pretty resilient phrase, both internally (no surprise) but also with users and commentators: https://twitter.com/search?q=firefox%20tab%20queue In the absence of a really strong alternative, I'd be inclined to go with the flow. There's also some nice overlap with future Tab Center naming. (2¢)
(In reply to Anthony Lam (:antlam) from comment #24) > (In reply to Matej Novak [:matej] from comment #23) > > I still worry that both "tabs" and "queue" aren't very friendly, user-facing > > words, but it sounds like I'm in the minority on that. > > > > Maybe a compromise would be something like "Queue links." My hypothesis is > > that users are more familiar with "links" than "tabs" and putting "queue" at > > the front makes it a verb (therefore more active), which describes what the > > feature does, rather than what it's called. > > Hm, yeah I do see what you're saying. But then we do also call out "tabs" in > many places of our visible UI. Maybe that's why it doesn't feel _that_ > unfamiliar to me ? > > New Tab, New Private Tab, Recent Tabs, Synced Tabs, Restore tabs, ... and > then there's the Tabs tray which is where these Queued "links" end up... But this is appearing outside of Firefox, isn't it? Once we're inside the browser, I think it's different, but users will interact with this feature while in another app, which is why I worry it can be confusing. (In reply to Richard Newman [:rnewman] from comment #25) > "Tab queue" has been a pretty resilient phrase, both internally (no > surprise) but also with users and commentators: > > https://twitter.com/search?q=firefox%20tab%20queue > > In the absence of a really strong alternative, I'd be inclined to go with > the flow. There's also some nice overlap with future Tab Center naming. > > (2¢) In that case I would still favor "Queue tab," which gives the user more of an idea of what's going to happen than just telling them the name of the feature. One thing to clarify is whether we're talking about a feature name or the language a user will see. I'm totally fine to call this "Tab queue," I'm just not sure that's the most instructive/descriptive language we can put in front of a user at the moment they click a link.
To expand on what I was saying in comment 26, I would imagine the user seeing something like this when they click a link: Queue this link? You will find queued links in your tab tray in Firefox. Open now? You can also add this to your tab queue in Firefox. Add to tab queue? You can find queued tabs in the tab tray in Firefox. Another thing worth clarifying is who owns this decision. I'm happy to offer options and my POV as long as there's something to discuss, but I'm a consultant here. Who has final say?
(In reply to Matej Novak [:matej] from comment #26) > (In reply to Anthony Lam (:antlam) from comment #24) > > (In reply to Matej Novak [:matej] from comment #23) > > > I still worry that both "tabs" and "queue" aren't very friendly, user-facing > > > words, but it sounds like I'm in the minority on that. > > > > > > Maybe a compromise would be something like "Queue links." My hypothesis is > > > that users are more familiar with "links" than "tabs" and putting "queue" at > > > the front makes it a verb (therefore more active), which describes what the > > > feature does, rather than what it's called. > > > > Hm, yeah I do see what you're saying. But then we do also call out "tabs" in > > many places of our visible UI. Maybe that's why it doesn't feel _that_ > > unfamiliar to me ? > > > > New Tab, New Private Tab, Recent Tabs, Synced Tabs, Restore tabs, ... and > > then there's the Tabs tray which is where these Queued "links" end up... > > But this is appearing outside of Firefox, isn't it? Once we're inside the > browser, I think it's different, but users will interact with this feature > while in another app, which is why I worry it can be confusing. Ah, I think we've had a little bit of a mix-up then. This is about renaming the preference inside Settings. Where we think it should be called "Tab Queues". > (In reply to Richard Newman [:rnewman] from comment #25) > > "Tab queue" has been a pretty resilient phrase, both internally (no > > surprise) but also with users and commentators: > > > > https://twitter.com/search?q=firefox%20tab%20queue > > > > In the absence of a really strong alternative, I'd be inclined to go with > > the flow. There's also some nice overlap with future Tab Center naming. > > > > (2¢) > > In that case I would still favor "Queue tab," which gives the user more of > an idea of what's going to happen than just telling them the name of the > feature. > > One thing to clarify is whether we're talking about a feature name or the > language a user will see. I'm totally fine to call this "Tab queue," I'm > just not sure that's the most instructive/descriptive language we can put in > front of a user at the moment they click a link. When the user presses a link, all they see is "Tab saved in Nightly" in a system toast since they have to enable this first. So, I think we should rename this as "Tab queue" in Settings now.
Sorry for the confusion on my part. Looking back at comment 28, I would love to revisit "Tab saved in Nightly" at some point in the future (maybe test a few things?), but it sounds like we have what we need for this bug.
(In reply to Matej Novak [:matej] from comment #29) > Sorry for the confusion on my part. Looking back at comment 28, I would love > to revisit "Tab saved in Nightly" at some point in the future (maybe test a > few things?), but it sounds like we have what we need for this bug. We can definitely do that in another bug. Thanks Matej! To summarize >>> Rename "Open multiple links" to "Tab queue" in Settings only.
Flags: needinfo?(margaret.leibovic)
Can you help audit the other place this string will need to change? One case is the notification to grant the draw over permission: To "Open multiple links", please enable the 'Draw over other apps' permission for Firefox. Also, what about the contextual hint overlay? Right now that says: Opening multiple links? Save them until the next time you open Firefox. You can change this later in Settings. [Not now][Enable]
Flags: needinfo?(margaret.leibovic) → needinfo?(alam)
(In reply to :Margaret Leibovic from comment #31) > Can you help audit the other place this string will need to change? One case > is the notification to grant the draw over permission: > > To "Open multiple links", please enable the 'Draw over other apps' > permission for Firefox. Yep, I can do that. I was going to file another bug with Sebastian for that stuff since he was just in there. > Also, what about the contextual hint overlay? Right now that says: > > Opening multiple links? Save them until the next time you open Firefox. You > can change this later in Settings. [Not now][Enable] I deliberately didn't want to change it there. I think this is fine to keep as is. Since the primary goal in this Helper UI is to propose the value of the feature _in context_. That is, as a user has opened a couple links in Firefox. It doesn't make as much sense to see "Tab queue" there I think.
Flags: needinfo?(alam)
Assignee: nobody → s.kaspari
tracking-fennec: ? → 47+
(In reply to Anthony Lam (:antlam) from comment #32) > (In reply to :Margaret Leibovic from comment #31) > > Can you help audit the other place this string will need to change? One case > > is the notification to grant the draw over permission: > > > > To "Open multiple links", please enable the 'Draw over other apps' > > permission for Firefox. > > Yep, I can do that. I was going to file another bug with Sebastian for that > stuff since he was just in there. > > > Also, what about the contextual hint overlay? Right now that says: > > > > Opening multiple links? Save them until the next time you open Firefox. You > > can change this later in Settings. [Not now][Enable] > > I deliberately didn't want to change it there. I think this is fine to keep > as is. Since the primary goal in this Helper UI is to propose the value of > the feature _in context_. That is, as a user has opened a couple links in > Firefox. > > It doesn't make as much sense to see "Tab queue" there I think. But will uses know that's the setting they need to change if they want to go back into settings to change this? It could be a good time to market this feature with a name.
Flags: needinfo?(alam)
(In reply to :Margaret Leibovic from comment #33) > (In reply to Anthony Lam (:antlam) from comment #32) > > (In reply to :Margaret Leibovic from comment #31) > > > Opening multiple links? Save them until the next time you open Firefox. You > > > can change this later in Settings. [Not now][Enable] > > > > I deliberately didn't want to change it there. I think this is fine to keep > > as is. Since the primary goal in this Helper UI is to propose the value of > > the feature _in context_. That is, as a user has opened a couple links in > > Firefox. > > > > It doesn't make as much sense to see "Tab queue" there I think. > > But will uses know that's the setting they need to change if they want to go > back into settings to change this? It could be a good time to market this > feature with a name. The goal of this Helper UI isn't to tell them what to look for in Settings - it's to get users to enable this then and there. Something like "Enable Tab queue?" feels very ad-like to me because it doesn't put the focus on me (as a user) or what I'm doing / why I should care per se. My thinking is to approach the user by addressing their intent and frustration of coming in and going out of Firefox. Plus, with the work we've recently done around our Settings UX, I'm not too worried about users not being able to find it. :)
Flags: needinfo?(alam)
Okay, I'll update the setting. We can leave the prompt on app start as-is but maybe we should change the prompt shown in settings; but this is covered by bug 1240709. I was wondering if we want to change the wording from saved/waiting to "queued" to be more consistent or is this making things to complicated? <!ENTITY tab_queue_toast_message3 "Tab saved in &brandShortName;"> <-- Tab queued in &brandShortName;? <!ENTITY tab_queue_prompt_text4 "Save them until the next time you open &brandShortName;."> <-- Queue them until the next time you open &brandShortName;? <!ENTITY tab_queue_notification_text_plural2 "&formatD; tabs waiting"> <-- &formatD; tabs queued? I'll create a patch for the setting here and we can update the others later if needed.
Also, do we want to update the pref summary? > Tab queue > Save them until the next time you open Nightly "Them" sounds odd because the title does not mention "links" anymore.
From "Open multiple links" to just "Tab queue". Review commit: https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/34339/diff/#index_header See other reviews: https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/34339/
Attachment #8717823 - Flags: review?(margaret.leibovic)
(In reply to Sebastian Kaspari (:sebastian) from comment #36) > Also, do we want to update the pref summary? > > > Tab queue > > Save them until the next time you open Nightly > > "Them" sounds odd because the title does not mention "links" anymore. Agreed. Let's change "them" to "links."
Comment on attachment 8717823 [details] MozReview Request: Bug 1220932 - (Part 1) Rename tab queue pref. r?margaret Review request updated; see interdiff: https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/34339/diff/1-2/
Comment on attachment 8717823 [details] MozReview Request: Bug 1220932 - (Part 1) Rename tab queue pref. r?margaret https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/34339/#review31301
Attachment #8717823 - Flags: review?(margaret.leibovic) → review+
Comment on attachment 8718277 [details] MozReview Request: Bug 1220932 - (Part 2) Update tab queue pref summary. r?margaret https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/34483/#review31303
Attachment #8718277 - Flags: review?(margaret.leibovic) → review+
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 9 years ago9 years ago
Resolution: --- → FIXED
Target Milestone: --- → Firefox 47
"Tab queue: Save links until the next time you open Nightly" is displayed in Settings, so: Verified as fixed using: Device: One A2001 (Android 5.1.1) Build: Firefox for Android 47.0a1 (2016-02-18)
Release Note Request (optional, but appreciated) [Why is this notable]: [Suggested wording]: [Links (documentation, blog post, etc)]:
relnote-firefox: --- → ?
QA Contact: teodora.vermesan
Product: Firefox for Android → Firefox for Android Graveyard
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