This is bound to happen when you do away with UI controls labels.
Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users
31–40 of 417 posts
Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users
#32https://catpics.foo
I feel like I just failed some security test by clicking on a random standalone link because I believed it would lead to cat pics.
Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users
#33I suspect that's why Apple moved the URL bar to the bottom of the screen in iOS Safari. For better or for worse, it now stands out a lot more from the search boxed within websites.
I personally think the reason was to further reduce the need to move your thumb from the bottom of the screen. The current iteration of safari is the only mobile browser I have ever used where I feel comfortable browsing and switching tabs with only one finger. It's surprisingly well implemented, though some actions (such as accessing history or site settings) take a couple extra taps.
Chrome rolled out that update on mobile but for whatever reason they rolled it back.
It's a much better design choice imo when you get used to it.
Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users
#34I'm pretty sure that this is deliberate. The URL bar isn't really under the site's control (although Web sites have more access to it, these days, than they used to).
If you can get users to interact with the elements directly under the site's control, then the site has ... more control.
Also, it's actually not a bad idea to have a "Swiss Army Knife" text entry. It's sort of what users expect. Couple that with advanced language parsing, and you can actually give users what they want.
My wife says I have "Google-Fu," because I'm so good at entering search queries that return relevant results.
Really, all I do, is enter a natural language phrase into the URL bar, and I get good results.
Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users
#35On phone support calls I usually can't even get people who know what a URL, URL bar, or even a search bar, is in the first place.
"The box at the top where you type in websites you want to go to."
"What are you talking about? I'm computer illiterate, I can't learn any of this fancy tech stuff. I just click my facebook icon and it comes up!"
These people get all sorts of confused when something happens in their browser and the new tab page's recently visited list gets cleared out...
Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users
#36This is because Google and Microsoft have confused the users by allowing them to type whatever into wherever and they just figure it out. Some would call that good UI - probably myself included - but it teaches bad behavior and makes people dumber by obscuring what things really are.
If you paste a link into the google search box, a good fraction of the time it doesn't lead you on a path to arriving at that link. For example, try the URL of this page. For me, zero results.
For me it gave one result - this page.
Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users
#37Search bar is superclass of url bar? Just bigger parsing space? Now we just need to superclass the bar into the whole screen. Rightclick wherever to bring up optionally-context-sensitive addressing/searching. Free ourselves from the tyranny of the browser frame. Which we have already done to a degree. And it's great.
> Search bar is superclass of url bar?
And that is why inheritance and object oriented programming are bad. /s
Just because I made an error while copy pasting some internal address doesn't mean I want that address shared with every search provider that pays my browser for information on me. I managed to disable that in Firefox, which somehow also broke the search bar on its startup page.
Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users
#38We mostly learn by trial and error. So do users need to be shielded from making mistakes?
depends on the mistake. if your widget designed for a certain task returns an obvious response when provided bad data allows for an easy understanding that this widget does not do what you think it does, then yes, allowing them to make the mistake is acceptable. they will learn not to do this. allowing things that teach bad behavior is something to avoid. in your quest to never have to tell the user "oops", you enable this bad behavior. little snow flakes are not going to melt because you told them "the princess is in the other castle". provide a proper/meaningful response (no, ID10T/PEBKAC does not count) so they know why what they did is not the correct method.
Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I personally think the reason was to further reduce the need to move your thumb from the bottom of the screen. The current iteration of safari is the only mobile browser I have ever used where I feel comfortable browsing and switching tabs with only one finger. It's surprisingly well implemented, though some actions (such as accessing history or site settings) take a couple extra taps.
What does it do better than Firefox Mobile? It has all settings, URL bar, and tabs at the bottom as well.
Probably doesn't have Firefox's infuriating tab manager that throws an idiotic "well golly you closed a tab!" popup over the next tab you intend to open.
Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users
#40People who don't know anything get confused, but this is going to be older people who are struggling to use computers, the people that call the Microsoft Edge icon "the internet". Generalizing that "users don't understand" from some autocomplete suggestions does not logically follow.