Firefox First Impressions
Like the old commercial says, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. With that in mind, David Rolnitzky and I have been working to improve the Firefox first run page with the aim of increasing the post-download user retention rate.
The previous version of the page was light on concrete ‘getting started’ information, so in the new page (which went live a few days ago) we wanted to provide a few quick tips on how to use some popular Firefox features. Our assumption was that if we can educate people on these features early on in their Firefox experience, they’ll be more likely to come back next time.
The big challenge was to provide this info in an easily scannable and non-invasive way so as not to delay people from actually using their new browser. To do this, we’re exposing just one tip at a time – the rest are discoverable through a series of pretty nifty DHTML transitions. We also focused on only four very easily understandable features and tried to keep the copy as short as possible.
This is obviously a crucial page in the Firefox new user experience, so we’re considering this the first in a series of tests. Right now it’s only available in the en-US version, but once we have a better idea of what works we’ll begin the process of localizing it for Firefox users around the world.
A screenshot of one of the panels is below, but I highly recommend viewing the actual live version of the page to get the full effect.
Thanks to Paul Kim, Mike Beltzner, Chris Beard and Jay Patel for their feedback and advice on this page. Big thanks to Alicia Patterson for her design work and Steven Garrity for his DHTML wizardry.
September 5th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Would it be possible to use some JS so it points to the correct tab if you arrive at it from somewhere else?
September 5th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
I know it’s bordering on being verbose, but “middle-clicking” or Ctrl- (Win/Linux) Cmd- (Mac) clicking really is the best way to open things in a new tab…
Yes, it requires a bit more memory than simply right-clicking and reading, but it’s exponentially faster, and once it’s part of muscle memory, it’s the only way one will ever click links (except those pesky Javascript links…has anyone fixed that yet?).
September 5th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
That is simply a great improvement! I love big, colorful graphics like that, and the slide effect is a very nice touch. Hopefully, we can create similar wows with the future support site, which I think this start page should link to when we’re ready.
September 5th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
[...] Slater, Mozilla Creative Director, says it is just the first in a series of tries so we’ll see how this goes [...]
September 5th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
[...] Slater, Mozilla Creative Director, says it is just the first in a series of tries so we’ll see how this goes [...]
September 5th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Great work, except the screenshots are in JPG and look bad. PNG saves the day!
September 6th, 2007 at 2:13 am
[...] esta Web, y parece ser que los usuarios con ineternet Explorer 7 no la pueden ver correctamente… John Slater, director creativo de Mozilla ha comunicado que ya están manos a la obra para solucionar este pequeño [...]
September 6th, 2007 at 2:56 am
In the fourth tab (Making Firefox Your Own) and search the error : “Try add-ons that will enhance listening to music, simplify photo sharing, block pop-ups, and more.”
Well, Firefox needs addons to “block pop-ups” ? I think “block ads” is better.
September 6th, 2007 at 4:13 am
“Or, open a fresh tab yourself by clicking ctrl-T”
Most people I know think of “clicking” a mouse button, but “pressing” a keyboard key. So I would change this to “…by pressing ctrl-T”.
Also, does the text change if the user agent indicates a Mac user?
Better still, I would direct people to the File=>New Tab menu entry: it shows the right keyboard shortcut for people that want to use it, but is more likely to be remembered or found in future by users that aren’t comfortable with keyboard shortcuts, or who have trouble remembering them.
September 7th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Wow,
I did just check out the live page and it’s beautiful.
Very nicely done.
It’s hip, clean, informative, and it should as intended be helpful to new users.
September 7th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
I love the new page. I also agree with the feedback about adding middle-click info. People *love* this, but there’s no way for them to find out about it if they’re not told. And I agree with Thomas.
I love how the way it scrolls, and it looks great!
September 11th, 2007 at 10:44 am
John–I would love to see you again!!! Let me know how things are going & where you can be reached!! Lots of new stuff–especially Rory’s!! Best, Freda 415-348-9121
September 21st, 2007 at 2:34 pm
[...] Mozilla flavor. We also fit more content on the page using the scrolly DHTML style as seen on the new first run page. A screenshot is below, but you should really check out the live page if you’re [...]