Tabs in the title bar: a UI design trend that needs to go
Safari 4 Beta's new tab arrangement has me bothered. It seems to be largely lifted from Chrome's user interface that puts the tabs at the very top of the window. Not only is this a departure from Apple's typical UI choices, it presents problems for users with special needs.
On your average Apple user interface, every object -- a title bar, menu, button, or handle -- has a single function. It can resize the window, move it, close it, or scroll it. Safari 4's tabs, however, have a dual purpose: They not only can be selected to move the entire Safari 4 window, but can be clicked individually to display their contents. In Safari 3, this was handled by two different objects -- the title bar to move the window, and tabs in the tab bar.
Google chose to put tabs at the top of the window because it was an important part of the user metaphor for their web browser, Chrome. In Chrome, tabs are independent processes brought together in a kind of stack. This is all very well and good, but it poses the same problem of having the area at the top of the window do two things at once: move the window as a whole, and control each item in the stack.
In the video at the top of the article, you can see the problem I have. I use a graphics tablet. Those who have graphics tablets know that when you're moving fast, clicking can sometimes result in dragging objects a short distance. With Safari 4, this results in a frustrating little dance until I can very precisely tap on the tab without dragging it across the screen. Furthermore, mistakenly clicking the close button or the resize handle for each tab creates additional complexity -- each with their own set of unexpected consequences. Dan Frakes and John Gruber have played with the title bar, too, and found their own litany of irks.
Tablet users can compensate for this by changing the configuration of their stylus. But people with motor control issues -- like those with slow reflexes, palsy, ALS and other motor neuron diseases -- will find this frustrating to use. Great care must be used to click on a tab without dragging, lest the window moves.
Mouse keys (found in the Universal Access preference pane, under the Mouse tab) may be one option to overcome this, and many individuals already have developed techniques that work for them. It is, however, another hoop to jump through just to use a web browser.
With Firefox and Safari 3, the tab bar was gracious enough to let you drag the tab a short ways and still appropriately switch to it when you let go of the mouse button. Safari could sidestep this problem by switching to the tab you click, even if you do drag the window by accident. But this creates a converse problem: if all I wanted to do was move the window, why did it suddenly switch tabs on me? Thus the need for a fundamental theory of UI: Every object needs only a single purpose.
My recommendation? Make the title bar tabs optional, and allow users the option of a more Safari 3-like tab experience. Mat linked yesterday to some undocumented preferences, but I think users would be well-served to have these available without using the Terminal.
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Safari 4 Beta's new tab arrangement has me bothered. It seems to be largely lifted from Chrome's user interface that puts the tabs at the...
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I really, REALLY like tabs in the titlebar because for me, the titlebar is totally wasted vertical space. I don't have any issues with my motor skills, though, and I guess people using tablets might be annoyed with stuff like this.
The best route would to make this an optional deal and I hope they do. I also hope that tabs-in-the-titlebar continues to be a trend, one that Mozilla should follow.
For those who are not comfortable using the Terminal application, I found a utility for Mac OS X users named Safari 4 Buddy that allows you to disable many of the new features in Safari 4 Public Beta.
Now I can get back to using Safari again without dealing with the hassles of some poorly designed user interface decisions.
http://www.swoon.net/site/software.html
Yay!
Wow you have no idea what you're talking about. Chrome's use of tabs in the titlebar have nothing to do with their metaphor an multi-process architecture. They have 100% to do with consolidated screen real estate usage. Why have two thing each taking up room when you can combine them?
The metaphor is that you have multiple tabs of a window - multiple windows. So why would those tabs not be at the highest level of the window (the top)? It's so much better this way. Remember when Google came out with Chrome they said something to the effect of "this is an example to other browsers of how things should be done." People are giving Apple crap for copying Chrome, but it seemed to me like it was an open invite. Remember that Chrome stole a LOT of technology from Apple - like the webkit rendering engine.
Your inability to properly use your interface device is not a reflection of the quality of Apple's design - it is a reflection of your inability to properly use your interface device. Most things have a purpose, and navigating around your OS is not the purpose of a tablet.
This goes along with everything else Apple does. Intuitiveness is built into everything. Not everything has to do only one thing. Two seconds of using OS X will reveal that a lot of things in the UI serve multiple purposes.
They don't mind totally ripping off Google for a BS feature that nobody likes, but they REFUSE to give us the ability to choose to have links that open in a new window open in a new tab. Safari could overtake Firefox within a few years if they would stop being so retarded!!!
March 01 2009 at 12:57 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyCouldn't disagree more with the article. I love the tabs on top. It works great for me, I've never had a problem.
February 27 2009 at 8:13 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI dig the new tabs!
February 27 2009 at 6:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI too love the new tab implementation
February 27 2009 at 1:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI love the new look and its more space efficient. Look at all that wasted space! I want this in textmate.
February 27 2009 at 12:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWe fear change.
February 27 2009 at 11:35 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI strongly disagree. Not only does moving the tabs to the title area provide more space for the content within the browser itself, it makes a better metaphor for the hierarchy of information and function. When tabs first arrived on browsers I was a little distracted by the URL changing above while clicking on tabs below. I got used to it and let the issue go. With S4 it feels much more natural. You'll need to get used to it too, as Apple seems to have made their decision and cares little for what you think once that decision has been made.
February 27 2009 at 10:19 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHot Apps on TUAW
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