We launched Focus as a free content blocker for Safari on iOS back in December 2015. The idea was to bring control back into users’ hands. We wanted to let them dictate how they wanted to spend their browsing data, even if they weren’t using Firefox.

About a year later, we wanted to give the product an update. We wanted to experiment more on Mobile. But how?

What if we could give mobile users an app that only allowed private browsing?

What would “success” or “failure” look like?

How were we going to do any of this?

Eventually, we released…

Update on June 21st, 2017: We are no longer actively working on Prox. There are no plans for a post-beta release.

At our recent Mozilla All Hands in Kona, HI, we announced the first project by the New Mobile Experience Team— Project Prox.

This is our first experiment in the Context Graph space. It’s a peek into everything we talked about earlier in the year and what that experience might look like for our users.

So what the heck is it?

Right now, Project Prox is taking shape as a mobile-first application on iOS. Starting with your location, we look for interesting places and events near…

What we’ve been up to so far

Our new Context Graph effort is steering us into some new and uncharted territory. But I can’t help but feel a sense of adventure because this opens up so many opportunities for new products and experiences — exciting times!

I spent the early part of my career working with a bunch of startups. “Move Fast and Break Things” was often the motto. Sometimes it was the right approach. Hammer away, and don’t be afraid to pivot later on. But stopping to question what or why we’re hammering is becoming more and more important.

…

“So… what’s it for?”

Saving content on the web is pretty easy nowadays. You can Bookmark it, email it to yourself, or save it to Pocket. But no matter what you choose, your intentions are similar.

In Firefox 38, we added a menu item that lets users save any webpage directly to their Reading List. If you see an article that you like, add it to your Reading List. We’ll even mark it as “unread” for you. That’s what the Reading List is for.

We believe that saving content needs to be straightforward and simple.

But, what about Bookmarks?

So, what are you guys doing?

And just like that, another year.

A year goes by pretty quickly. Before long, I’ll be sitting here again feeling like 24 hours isn’t enough. So it’s always good to have a vision for where you want to go next.

The details matter, and so do the larger things. It’s all equally important. Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in it all. So I think this is a good opportunity to step back, recognize the work we’ve done, and what we’ve achieved — as a team.

Disclaimer: things change, all mock ups here are probably not final.

What basically happened in 2015,

Why we’re giving it an update in Firefox for Android

Special thanks to Martyn and Sebastian for all their hard work here.

When we were redesigning our tablet interface back in 2014, we learned a couple things (read part 1 here and part 2 here). Since then, things have changed and there’s been new findings. We’ve seen the latest smartphones continue to get bigger, Luke Wroblewski shared some data about usage by orientation, and our competitors have continued to improve their offerings too.

Given the high visibility nature of this part of our product, it felt important to be more…

Instantly search with any of your search providers

User choice has always been big for us on the Firefox team. It’s consistent with our mission, and who we are as a company. In our features, it also enables our users to take advantage of the open web.

As for our search experience, we offer customizability and personalization as a way to further that value.

But taking full advantage of this feature has always been a bit difficult. Especially after logging some browsing history, locating your non-default search providers requires some digging. …

Being there, without being annoying

Do you remember Clippy? Yup, that on-screen Microsoft Office assistant that would always ask you if you wanted assistance.

In many ways, it made sense. Through the context of an action you just took, Clippy shows up on screen, and offers other related actions. But where did it all go? Why isn’t Clippy everywhere?

Why does it matter?

As a designer, I try to stay close to the mindset of my users. It helps me get a better sense of how my designs appear and function in their eyes. …