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CHAMP
A new way to display browser tabs in Songbird
The main feature of Songbird that sets it apart from other music programs is its web browser. Whether using it to find and install addons inside of the program, or playing songs off of music blogs and sites, the web browser offers many new possibilities and is something that most users will make use of. However, I think that using tabs the way they currently are in Songbird can feel pretty confusing and cluttered.
The problem, I think, is that Songbird modeled its tabs off of the way they are currently displayed in web browsers. Firefox, IE, Chrome, Opera, and almost every other browser I have seen all have a thin, horizontal tab bar at the top of the program window. This is primarily done because it takes up less screen space than vertical tabs, and possibly because it is comfortable in most cultures to read across text from left to right, rather than downward in a list. It works pretty well in web browsers considering that bookmarks and websites are the only places you can navigate to in a browser.
Songbird, on the other hand, has many more places one can navigate to. The library, playlists, radio stations, stores, and plugged-in devices are all places that the user needs to be able to navigate to within the program, and that is before even including web features. Because of all of the locations, a vertical service pane is used to list them all clearly. Bookmarks are even listed in this pane as well, rather than in a horizontal bar as they are in web browsers. However, tabs are the only places in Songbird not listed in the service pane.
A horizontal tab bar is created when you open a tab, and this creates two navigational areas: the main service pane, and the tab bar. It can be confusing to have these two navigational areas to switch between, especially when bookmarks are in the vertical plane and tabs in the horizontal. It causes both horizontal and vertical space to be taken up, and it causes the Library tab to be doubled, which looks really confusing.
Aza Raskin, who works on Firefox's interface design, made a blog post talking about how tabs could be listed in a vertical pane in Firefox, and I think this would especially be a perfect solution for Songbird. Tabs would be listed in the service pane just like any other place you can navigate to in the program, there wouldn't be the confusion or clutter of having an additional navigation area, and the Library tab wouldn't get doubled. I also think that it would feel more intuitive to have bookmarks (unopened websites) and tabs (open websites) listed in the same pane. It might even be neat if clicking a bookmark made it slide into the tab area, and upon closing or leaving that page, it would slide back into the bookmark area, preventing unnecessary doubling of content in the service pane. However, there are some negative aspects of both design choices, so I figured I would make a pros and cons list so that people could weigh the choices.
Current method - horizontal tab bar
Pros:
- Tabs are displayed the same way in current web browsers, so users have more experience with the model
- The user can hide the main service pane while browsing for more horizontal space in web pages
Cons:
- Creates two separate navigational areas in the program; the service pane, and the tab bar
- The user ends up having two Library tabs, so they can still access the library from the tab bar if the service pane is hidden while browsing
- Takes up vertical space and adds clutter to the top of the window
New method - tabs in the service pane
Pros:
- Tabs are listed in the service pane just like all of the other areas of the program that you can access
- Tabs no longer create a second navigational pane
- There are no longer two tabs for accessing the Library
- Bookmarked websites are already listed in the service pane, so it would keep consistency to have open websites listed there as well
- Saves/declutters vertical screen space
Cons:
- Users could not hide the service pane while browsing, because if they did they would not be able to access tabs
- Tabs would no longer be displayed as they currently are in web browsers, and might be harder for people to use
- Takes up more space in the service pane
What does everyone think? Do you think it would be more convenient to use this new system for displaying tabs, or is the traditional way better? It might be hard to tell which way you would like better without actually testing it out, but try to imagine what it would be like to click on tabs in the service pane. I think it would be an improvement.
The problem, I think, is that Songbird modeled its tabs off of the way they are currently displayed in web browsers. Firefox, IE, Chrome, Opera, and almost every other browser I have seen all have a thin, horizontal tab bar at the top of the program window. This is primarily done because it takes up less screen space than vertical tabs, and possibly because it is comfortable in most cultures to read across text from left to right, rather than downward in a list. It works pretty well in web browsers considering that bookmarks and websites are the only places you can navigate to in a browser.
Songbird, on the other hand, has many more places one can navigate to. The library, playlists, radio stations, stores, and plugged-in devices are all places that the user needs to be able to navigate to within the program, and that is before even including web features. Because of all of the locations, a vertical service pane is used to list them all clearly. Bookmarks are even listed in this pane as well, rather than in a horizontal bar as they are in web browsers. However, tabs are the only places in Songbird not listed in the service pane.
A horizontal tab bar is created when you open a tab, and this creates two navigational areas: the main service pane, and the tab bar. It can be confusing to have these two navigational areas to switch between, especially when bookmarks are in the vertical plane and tabs in the horizontal. It causes both horizontal and vertical space to be taken up, and it causes the Library tab to be doubled, which looks really confusing.
Aza Raskin, who works on Firefox's interface design, made a blog post talking about how tabs could be listed in a vertical pane in Firefox, and I think this would especially be a perfect solution for Songbird. Tabs would be listed in the service pane just like any other place you can navigate to in the program, there wouldn't be the confusion or clutter of having an additional navigation area, and the Library tab wouldn't get doubled. I also think that it would feel more intuitive to have bookmarks (unopened websites) and tabs (open websites) listed in the same pane. It might even be neat if clicking a bookmark made it slide into the tab area, and upon closing or leaving that page, it would slide back into the bookmark area, preventing unnecessary doubling of content in the service pane. However, there are some negative aspects of both design choices, so I figured I would make a pros and cons list so that people could weigh the choices.
Current method - horizontal tab bar
Pros:
- Tabs are displayed the same way in current web browsers, so users have more experience with the model
- The user can hide the main service pane while browsing for more horizontal space in web pages
Cons:
- Creates two separate navigational areas in the program; the service pane, and the tab bar
- The user ends up having two Library tabs, so they can still access the library from the tab bar if the service pane is hidden while browsing
- Takes up vertical space and adds clutter to the top of the window
New method - tabs in the service pane
Pros:
- Tabs are listed in the service pane just like all of the other areas of the program that you can access
- Tabs no longer create a second navigational pane
- There are no longer two tabs for accessing the Library
- Bookmarked websites are already listed in the service pane, so it would keep consistency to have open websites listed there as well
- Saves/declutters vertical screen space
Cons:
- Users could not hide the service pane while browsing, because if they did they would not be able to access tabs
- Tabs would no longer be displayed as they currently are in web browsers, and might be harder for people to use
- Takes up more space in the service pane
What does everyone think? Do you think it would be more convenient to use this new system for displaying tabs, or is the traditional way better? It might be hard to tell which way you would like better without actually testing it out, but try to imagine what it would be like to click on tabs in the service pane. I think it would be an improvement.
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The more people who like this idea, the more it gets noticed.
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Inappropriate?I just filed this to bugzilla as well so that it might get more discussion: http://bugzilla.songbirdnest.com/show...
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Inappropriate?No one has a preference, or am I just making posts too long for anyone to want to read them? =P I really think this could make the browser feel more natural in Songbird.
Mark Yen made a comment on the bug suggesting that tabs in the service pane could be possible:
"Building it as an extension would probably be the first step to go here :)
Unlike Firefox, we have hacks that make the tab strip detached from the
</tabbrowser>, so this would actually be possible, I think. You'll have to do
lots of work to make it not break, though."
I hadn't thought of this, but since the new tab bar in Songbird can be hidden, it doesn't seem like it would be too difficult to permanently remove it. Feathers are already made to look good without the tab bar showing, so no problems would crop up there. -
Inappropriate?Actually, I think this is a great idea. Because the library panel and such SHOULD be shown whilst web browsing anyway, because:
1) otherwise its multiple steps to switch between a browsing session and select a playlist. Songbird is mainly about music, so 1 step to select a playlist is ideal
2) many plugins act similar to webpages. So the way they act should be similar
3) Displays, ESPECIALLY new ones, have a longer width then height.
I agree with this idea totally, and think that it makes the experience much more consistant. Users no longer need to think about sidebar and tabs, they only need the sidebar then ;)
PS. Seems I'm not the only one who feels like 18hrs is forever (told you it did Laura)...
I’m full of awe
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This is one of the best points
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Thank you for your support, Andrew. I didn't notice it has only been that long and I'm already worrying about it. I just kept waking up and seeing that no replies had been made and that it was falling away in the pages, and I was worried that it would just disappear. -
Believe me, I know the feeling :P
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Inappropriate?I thought it was a stupid idea for a few seconds, then rationalizing kicked in, and i realized that this is quite a good idea. I like the concept of putting tabs on the same level as playlists and other views. This also clears up the UI ( and i also wouldn't have to designing tabs anymore :P).
Comments about the cons:
The con about hiding the service pane isn't a big deal because i only hide the service pane now and then because it serves little purpose right now, so in effect you're defeating that con. I also have quite a bit of space to list tabs. The vertical space a tab takes is much than the horizontal space.
In addition to this idea, i think that it should work with bookmarks kind of like the taskbar in WIndows 7. When you have tab opened that's bookmarked, the close button can appear next the bookmark.
I’m eager
1 person thinks
this is one of the best points
1 Comment Add a comment
This is one of the best points
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Jesus.. I'm glad you had a change of heart =P. I think what you said about the Windows 7 taskbar is a great point. Both Windows 7 and OSX keep open and closed application icons pinned together in the dock, and they just light up to show you that the application is running. Since the web is becoming more app-based, I think it makes sense to treat bookmarks in a similar way in browsers- as either active or inactive. As you said, it would be easy to tell that they are open because the open ones would have close buttons.
CHAMP
