Addressing Firefox Retention on the Download Page
A few weeks ago, JT and Beltzner presented their 12-point plan for improving Firefox retention. David Rolnitzky and I were tasked with point #5 – “Improve download and first run pages”, so I’m happy to say that we launched a new download page earlier today.
As a bit of context, this is the page that users see after they click the Download Firefox button, and it remains up throughout the entire download process. So, rather than just showing a promo for a messenger bag (which is what the previous version of the page did), our hypothesis is that users will be better served by seeing instructions (with visuals) on how to complete the installation process.
We plan to keep testing and evolving this page over time, so consider this more of a work in progress than a “final” page. Obviously the use of screenshots complicates the localization process, so we’re just launching the en-US version now while we actively try to figure out the best way to localize these pages worldwide. In addition to the Mac page shown here, we also created XP and Vista versions, and other OS’s may follow eventually.
Update 9/4/07: Several commenters correctly pointed out that this page wasn’t always viewable from certain key browsers. That was a known bug at the time we launched the page, and I’m happy to report that it was fixed last week.
Thanks to Alicia Patterson for her design work on the many iterations of this page.
August 20th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
August 20th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
I just checked it out on Vista. The image on the second step makes me want to click “cancel” because it has focus.
Although I know exactly what you mean in step four, some people may not know they need to double click the Firefox icon instead of looking at the icon to launch Firefox.
I do think it is a real improvement for what you are trying to accomplish.
August 20th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
From your screenshot and my testing, it looks like you’re sniffing for operating systems. I’m running Windows XP, and I see some oddness in my screenshots.
The first shot is an IE download prompt without any themes. I don’t know from what OS/IE version combo it comes from.
The second shot is an IE download window in Vista with themes on.
The third shot doesn’t show any themes.
The forth shot is in XP with themes on.
For all of this talk about polish for end users that they are able to use, you’d think you’d use screenshots that weren’t so jarring…
August 20th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
*Typo: “Look for the Firefox icon whever you want to use the web!”
*I thought it was odd not to place the “If your download does not start after a few seconds” link at the top center of the page, right in the users face. Perhaps it is a bit too out of the way?
*”Use this link” could be changed to “click here”.
August 20th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
Also, s/Beltnzer/Beltzner/.
August 20th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Forgive my comment at the top… I didn’t notice that it was only for Windows and OS X.
August 20th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
On your XP page, the download dialog shows a “save file” and “Cancel” button, but in the text you refer to a “Run file” button.
Also if you do User Agent sniffing to detect if the user is using windows or mac, you might as well detect if the user already uses firefox, and present a quick note about automatic updates (no need for whole download). The complete download should still be left as an option though.
August 20th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
So I tested this in IE6 on XP and IE7 on Vista and neither one actually redirected me to the page at any point.
August 21st, 2007 at 3:06 am
I’m on Windows 2000, and I also see some strangeness if I’m downloading with Firefox.
Step 1 looks correct.
Step 2 has an IE7 Vista download dialog.
Step 3 looks correct.
Step 4 shows XP.
With some work I think this really be really neat though
August 21st, 2007 at 8:08 am
Ignoring the minor polishing that’s still needed, and addressed by others, this is great work.
I hope you’ll find the time to push this through to other locales ASAP (i.e. after a months testing on en-US) and definitely before beta2 of Firefox 3. A similar page must also be pushed through to Mozilla Europe (and likely other regional sites too). This kind of stuff has the potential of making millions of lives just that little bit simpler and more understandable
August 21st, 2007 at 10:04 am
Hi all. Thanks for your comments…they’ll definitely help us as we continue to iterate on this page.
With regard to what a couple of you noticed about the page not always showing up, I should share this comment from our web dev guru, Steven Garrity:
“In implementing this page, I came across an issue that we all seem to have missed. For visitors using Internet Explorer 7, the download links bypass the download.html all-together and point directly at the installer file. This is done because IE7 blocks javascript-initiated downloads like the one we have on the download.html with a confusing/scary warning.
Presumably, most Vista users are using Internet Explorer 7 (the default with Vista). As a result, most Vista won’t see the download page at all. That said, if they are using Firefox or some other browser on Vista, they will see those instructions.”
August 21st, 2007 at 2:24 pm
With all due respect, if a Vista user is running a browser other than IE, then they know how to install a program. Not sure the point of the page on Windows if IE users will never see it.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:45 am
OK, that would explain the IE7 issue. I agree that you don’t want the security bar coming up and scaring people, so why not move the JavaScript magic to this download page, and if IE7 is being used, don’t automatically redirect to the file, but add big link to the download. That way users can see the page and avoid security warnings.