Re: Removing Firefox Version Number

On Aug 20, 12:30 am, Asa Dotzler <[email protected]> wrote:
> You have data for that? I'd love to read it.

Asa, this is what practically everyone in this discussion has been
asking you.  We still want to know what horrible things are happening
due to the version number being in the about box.  Less relevant to
the average consumer != useless to everyone.

> The Firefox UX team and I have been thinking about this for some months
> now and, based on our many years of experience and training, we think
> that we've got some pretty good ideas about why a user wants to know
> what Firefox rapid release version she's using.
>
> Based on your usability and design education and experience, or your
> experience and research into this or relevant areas, what do you say is
> the problem a user is trying to solve when she is looking up a Firefox
> version number? What causes a regular mainstream Firefox user who has
> been on the Firefox rapid release track for half a year or so to ask
> that question? Help me understand. She says to herself, "I really need
> to know what version of Firefox I'm using." Why does she say that? What
> does that information help her accomplish? What is the use case?
>
> (It turns out that I have some ability to help shape the Firefox
> experience for hundreds of millions of users and so if you can help me
> understand this particular use case better than I currently do, I can
> help make Firefox better for all of those users.)
>
> As I said above, the UX team and I have thought about this and talked
> about this and we assert (yes, people with lots of education,
> experience, and solid track records in a particular area or profession
> sometimes do that) that a user who is on Firefox's rapid release system
> wants to know what version she is using in order to accomplish primarily
> these two tasks: 1) to determine if she is up to date in order to get
> herself up to date, and 2) to do some troubleshooting.
>
> If those are not the big reasons she wants to know the version number,
> and you know a more important one that's applicable in Firefox's rapid
> release model, please share. With more use cases, we can discuss better
> solutions and that's obviously what you and I are after here.

It sounds to me like you think a little too much of your own intellect
and a little too little of your users'.  What if I know that FF
version X is going to have per-process tabs and I want to see if I'm
running that version yet?  How will I even know if Mozilla is pushing
that release out to current users yet?  What if I want to check and
see what version number I'm using so I can determine what add-ons will
(or won't work) for me?  All of these are questions that will be a
bigger hassle to answer with the version number hidden.  So there's a
small sample of how removing the version number *hurts* FF.  (And I'm
not even touching on the fact that it violates a standard established
by about 99% of GUI software.)  Would you please explain why leaving
the version number in place would hurt FF more than this?

Initially, I wasn't too opposed to this change (though I saw no point
to it), but after seeing your handling of the situation I'm disgusted
at your arrogant attitude and I'm disgusted at Mozilla for tolerating
it.  (I'm a software developer too, but never have I felt the need to
elevate myself above my users or ignore their concerns.)  If this
change is made without offering so much as a token explanation for why
it's so necessary, I'll be in the market for a different browser.  So
will my relatives and clients.  Not because of the stupid version
number, but because Mozilla is just turning into another Microsoft or
Google -- too absorbed with their own greatness to listen to what us
peasants have to say.  Sadly, they seem to have forgotten that their
greatest strength was that they *weren't* just another Google or
Microsoft.  They *were* a community-oriented organization, or at least
they made a good show of it until now.