Tag: UX

No, you're right...there's nothing new in the image above. Right now, Google Chrome has two separate menu icons in its top right corner: the wrench menu for options and settings and the page menu for functions like zooming, dev tools, and copy/paste. A while back, I'd reported that changes were likely on the way, in the form of a single, unified menu. Google pitches minimalism as a central ...

You may not use the page menu a heck of a lot in Google Chrome. Most of the functions listed there are easily accessed via a hotkey or aimed at developers, so the average user isn't likely to utilize the menu all that often. The wrench menu, on the other hand, is where all our configuration options lie -- as well as things like the history, download, and extensions pages. In truth, I barely ...

There's been plenty of talk about Microsoft's slick, dual-screen Courier tablet (check out Engadget's coverage of the device). While we still don't know when it's going to appear on retail shelves, it's safe to say that the touch-plus-pen input system demonstrated in the video above would be awesome on the Courier. "Manual Deskterity" aims to meld pen and multi-touch input into a more "real" ...

Mozilla's Test Pilot program has been busily gathering usage data from volunteers since the project first launched late last year. Now, that data is being used to help shape the future of Firefox. Developer Alex Faaborg has posted a Firefox menu bar heatmap -- which (in case you're not familiar with the term) shows the items users click on the most. So what items are the most used? Copy, ...

Windows 7 offers plenty of personalization options already, but there are some nice unofficial (and unsigned) themes out there that you can't install without a little tinkering. Normally that requires downloading and patching several Windows .dll files, and it can be kind of a pain in the butt -- especially if you're not the DIY type. Kishan Bagaria has put together Windows Theme Installer ...

Mac users of Google Chrome finally got a solid bookmark system in Google Chrome...but the dev team isn't stopping there, of course. In the last week or so, several updates have been made to the Chromium source code which will bring a better -- and more Chrome-y -- bookmark manager to the browser. The new 'tabbed bookmark manager' currently looks like what you see in the screenshot. Rather than ...

Password masking - the practice of replacing the characters a user types into password entry field with bullets - has been widespread on the web for a long time. Jakob Nielsen recently wrote a thought-provoking post suggesting masking is hurting more than it helps, and that it's only being kept around out of habit. I'll try to make the case for and against masking here, and let Download Squad ...