Research results missing. nice page otherwise --JanD 09:09, 15 December 2010 (CET)
Description
Based on our research on the use of bookmarks, we decided to revise the concept of how users organize and structure them. In interviews with other students who are quite experienced in browsing and friends and family members who only casually move through the internet, we came to the conclusion that most users only utilize the very basic functions provided by the bookmark system as it is today. Only a few people manage their bookmarks in folders; this concept seems to need too many actions and too much editing to be effective, making it too slow for many people. The interviews showed, that the most common way to use bookmarks is to use them only for sites visited regularly, mostly placed in the bookmarks toolbar, where their position and icon help to rapidly find and open desired pages. Websites that are not visited regularly (e.g. certain blog entries, interesting videos, pages with static content) often don't even deserve a bookmark and some users even prefer to search the internet again for a specific link, than to search their bookmarks.
Our goal is, to make organizing and browsing bookmarks more easy and effective by getting rid of the list and folders system and introducing a visual, desktop-like display. In the concept, users are able to arrange their bookmarks on a surface using their position and grouping to find them again. They can freely move their saved pages per drag & drop and arrange them in areas of interest, to provide the best overview possible. The bookmarks themselves are easy to distinguish by, besides their name, giving a remarkable snapshot of their content, consistent of a combination of the site's icon and a small preview. We try to make working with bookmarks more fun for people who normally don't fanatically organize and maintain their stuff, while still making it possible to let users already having their own system keep their structure, transferred to a more graphic level.
User Research
Results
- there is a clear separation of frequently used pages and the “treasure trove”: the habits of the user decide if they are stored in files with a command structure or not
- frequently used pages are seldom expanded and liable to a static hierarchy, therefore they have a fixed position and an easily recognizable icon
- the bookmarks in the treasure trove are sometimes renamed to fit the user, but mostly not bothered with
- users which are very familiar with the existing bookmarks system are unsure of and even fear the changes the system could undergo, because their usual system of recognition and memorization of bookmarks could become unsuitable
- bookmarks are mostly only edited if they’re used frequently, otherwise it’s not worth the bother
- easy synchronization between different devices should be possible as some users tend to use their bookmarks on more than one device: the new visual implementation should be able to be viewed with different resolutions
- the user wants to categorize and file their bookmarks fast and without much effort
- it’s important that they don’t have to dedicate much time to create a bookmark and everything stays cleanly arranged
- if there are no Bookmarks, instead of entering known URLs into the address-bar, they are typed into the search-engine-bar and let google make a clickable link out of it
- characteristic recognitions of webpages (related to the possibility of using screenshots) are coloring, position of the navigation, logo and funtionality
- bookmarks don't replace the search-engine, i.e. known and arranged sites are still googled first
Goals
- making the bookmark system more attractive by means of a visual wall-like display => Tab Candy, respectively Panorama on Firefox4 seems to (will) be a good advancement, maybe the idea of an extra bookmark searching field should be integrated, BUT see non-goals!
- users that are familiar with the existing system should still be able to use the modified version without the loss of their structure or a loss of quality
- the user should be able to visit frequently used webpages without detours and less important pages should be found more easily
- users should be able to quickly retrieve their bookmarks (with the use of logical search criteria)
- the file system should be retained so the user doesn’t have to adjust to a too new system
- more significant design in the browser (extra searching field)
- additional information like in the browser history (time, last visit, ...)
Non-Goals
- a completely new bookmarks system that nobody understands and everyone has to learn anew
- developing a Tab-Candy clone as bookmarks are NOT tabs
- making the graphic interface too unmanageable or cluttered
- removing the individual decisions for categorization or structuring
In Progress
Right now we're focussing on finding multiple concepts on how to group bookmarks on our desktop wall. This is a complex task, because each concept brings advantages and disadvantages to the overview, based on how many bookmarks the user wants to store on his wall.
Sketches
