Why Tabs are on Top in Firefox 4.0

Firefox 5 Beta will be here soon but Firefox 4 introduced a controversial change, which hopefully gets addressed in this next release!

With Firefox 4, Tabs are by default, positioned above the address bar! There were user testing done and have proved "that some people do feel comfortable with the new tab position as soon as they get used to it". As an option, users can check off this default setting with View>Toolbars> (check off) Tabs on Top, to get back to the 3.x look, which seems to make better sense.

Before commenting further, it is fair to understand the rationale (with a video) behind this change. The link even provided some of mockups you see used in the video. For your easy reference, below is a summarize excerpt from Sitepoint:

Mozilla cite four main reasons for their change of opinion:

1. The conceptual model: the address bar and controls apply to the current tab.
2. App tabs: like Chrome, Firefox 4.0 will allow you pin small regularly-used tabs to the tab bar. The address bar and other controls will be removed for these web applications.
3. Tab-based UI: Firefox 4.0 will show windows such as downloads and the bookmarks organizer in tabs. It makes no sense to have the address bar and other controls visible.
4. Notifications: some error and warning messages now appear below the address bar.

There are indeed some sound and valid reasons for the change. The repositioning of the tab might be a bit pre-mature since most users are still browsers rather than web app users. But why has this new tab position caused such a controversy to start with? The assumption that the address bar belongs to the tab is probably the basis of it all. It is not really a simple cognitive issue and it contradicts with our mental model of an address!

If an address belongs to a house, should we be seeing the house first or the address first? The address bar is a dynamic field and controls the content of the tab, it does not belong to the tab per se. From the video, it seems that the decision was made based on a layout issue rather than a UX design issue. There seemed no differentiation between dynamic and static fields, all fields are treated the same... static!

This is a very good example to illustrate the fine-line-decision-making in a multidisciplinary design team. And it is all these subtle factors that make user experience design a challenging and interesting job!

Ranking Creativity...

"Creativity is key to CEOs", an article by Anushkar Mohinani for IDG

"According to an IBM survey of 1,541 chief executives from 60 countries and 33 industries globally, chief executive officers (CEOs) identified 'creativity' as the most important leadership quality." (full article)

"Does being creative help you climb to the top?", an article by Matthew Knight for CNN

"Mueller and her collaborators conclude that "organizations may face a bias against selecting the most creative individuals as leaders in favor of selecting leaders who would preserve the status quo by sticking with feasible but relatively unoriginal solutions." (full article)

These are really complementary studies. The problem is not on creativity itself, but how it was received. To further this topic, here is an extract from "To Unlock Creativity, Learn from Steve Jobs", an article by Carmine Gallo for Bloomberg Businessweek

"According to the Harvard research, the No.1 skill that separates innovators from noncreative professionals is "associating"—the ability to successfully connect seemingly unrelated questions, problems, or ideas from different fields. The three-year Harvard research project confirms what Jobs told a reporter 15 years earlier: "Creativity is just connecting things." (full article)

"Changing Education Paradigms", another great TED talk by Ken Robinson, presented with a wonderful animated piece from RSA Animate, a highly creative piece explaining how education systems can victimize creativity, especially Arts. Enjoy!

Book Report: The Back of the Napkin, by Dan Roam

Dan Roam describes his visual thinking method as "... forcing ourselves to look at our idea from every point on the SQVID, a fascinating thing happens, with an equally fascinating outcome. We fullly activate both the left ("analytic") and right ("creative") sides of our brain."

He calls his thinking process toolkit, the swiss knife 3-4-5-6:

• 3 for tools: eyes, mind and hands
• 4 for process: look, see, imagine and show
• 5 for focus: SQVID (simple, quality, vision, individual, and delta -- change)
• 6 for framework: Portrait, chart, map, timeline, flowchart, and multiple-variable plots

I believe understanding 3, 4, 5, 6 is easy; but executing 3-4-5-6 is not. The visual thinking codex is a mesh, a matrix. It works best pictorialized:

This thinking matrix is based on Roam's graphics equalizer, which I find extremely useful:

 

I was also pleasantly surprised to find him writing about messaging and email (Page 122 -124) -- using a fake software vendor (SAX Inc) in his MBA crash course (Chapter 8 - 14).  It was inspiring to read about Bain & Company, whose logo derived from the earth's 2 North Poles, differentiating "how we are going to get there" from "we are going to get there". The book actually gets more interesting and inspiring as you read on.

To be honest, I had to make 3 attempts to get myself started on this book. At first, I was frustrated by it's casual monologue style of writing. Then I thought I should just scan the book by studying the pictures... but  that didn't work. Finally I realized that this book should be read "with pictures", and that the writing style is meant to have the author himself explaining his sketches as he draws, just like we would when we are presenting or sketching out your ideas.  So there... hope you enjoy your read too!

I'd like to dedicate this book report to Jon Asbury (my mentor) for introducing me the book, and Miss Yung (my English Literature teacher) for giving me the ability to appreciate.