Chrome's experiment of hiding the URL is awful
disconnected.craig.is
Chrome's experiment of hiding the URL is awful
1–10 of 69 posts
Re: Chrome's experiment of hiding the URL is awful
#2> There is a reason they have always been front and center in all web browsers.
Just because a design idiom had prevailed doesn't mean that it's correct or even good. People generally don't care about the url, they care about the site. This is like the browser saying "Starbucks" rather than "Starbucks, 3-1202 21st E, Falseville BC".
Re: Chrome's experiment of hiding the URL is awful
#3I agree, it's awful. URLs are the central concept in the web. People should be aware that they are browsing certain URL at the moment. Be able to exchange links.
Re: Chrome's experiment of hiding the URL is awful
#4I agree, it's awful. URLs are the central concept in the web. People should be aware that they are browsing certain URL at the moment. Be able to exchange links.
So then a SHARE button in the browser exposing the URL would accomplish all the goals you listed.
Re: Chrome's experiment of hiding the URL is awful
#5> There is a reason they have always been front and center in all web browsers. Just because a design idiom had prevailed doesn't mean that it's correct or even good. People generally don't care about the url, they care about the site. This is like the browser saying "Starbucks" rather than "Starbucks, 3-1202 21st E, Falseville BC".
>This is like the browser saying "Starbucks" rather than "Starbucks, 3-1202 21st E, Falseville BC".
Is it? What if "Starbucks" were your bank? What if you knew that apart from your bank there's non-bank entities mimicking your bank's looks in an effort to get your personal information? Would location still be irrelevant?
Re: Chrome's experiment of hiding the URL is awful
#6> I would wager that most people who fall for phishing attacks are not people who look at or understand URLs to begin with. Updating the URL bar to show just the host is not going to cause more people to look at it.
I respectfully disagree that it is less secure. Showing only the domain will reduce the clutter to where the user can determine which domain they are typing their password into. I say can because in the phishing example the user would be unable to determine the domain name.
The full url is only a click away. A click that is going to be happening anyway when the user wants to copy the URL.
I welcome the clean look as user. As a developer I will re-enable the full URL on my development machines, but not on my family members machines.
Re: Chrome's experiment of hiding the URL is awful
#7I agree, it's awful. URLs are the central concept in the web. People should be aware that they are browsing certain URL at the moment. Be able to exchange links.
So then a SHARE button in the browser exposing the URL would accomplish all the goals you listed.
Aha, by that logic, they then hide the SHARE button, but introduce new SHOW SHARE BUTTON button.
Re: Chrome's experiment of hiding the URL is awful
#8> There is a reason they have always been front and center in all web browsers. Just because a design idiom had prevailed doesn't mean that it's correct or even good. People generally don't care about the url, they care about the site. This is like the browser saying "Starbucks" rather than "Starbucks, 3-1202 21st E, Falseville BC".
I'm curious if there have been studies about people not caring about the URL or showing it is a more of a usability hinderance than help. I remember arguments about this back in the late 90s (some suggested VRML navigation as a solution!), and the web has still seemed to take off despite no significant changes to the URL bar before the last few years.
In your example, wouldn't the "BC" be the domain name and not "Starbucks?" I don't know if there's any way to know with certainty in all URLs whether the domain name or the path components are more important to a user.
Re: Chrome's experiment of hiding the URL is awful
#9The path and query parts of the URL my address bar is /item?id=7694968. To the server, it's vitally important (as is the cookie). Especially to the average user, it's complete noise.
Re: Chrome's experiment of hiding the URL is awful
#10In re the comparisons to iOS7 showing only the domain name of the site you're on: Mobile browser UI is a completely different design challenge. Yes, I found it jarring at first to see only the domain name, but the full URL was never visible in Mobile Safari on the iPhone, except on the shortest of URLs. But on a desktop web browser, showing the full URL is a critical piece of the UI, and it will confuse far more people than it will help to remove it.