Google Chrome
A Critique of the world's fastest web browser
A Critique of the world's fastest web browser
Figure No. 1 - A current view of Google Chrome's start up page
The Roots
It is no longer a secret that the standard web browser, Internet Explorer, has fallen off the map. Mac's are loaded with Safari, and most Windows users change their default browser from Internet Explorer to another provider within the first 4-5 hours of owning their new PC. Frankly, the only people who still use Internet Explorer are those who do not know how to intall a faster browser.
After the constant necessary I.E. upgrades, add ons, and slow performance, Google (the worlds #1 used search engine to date) decided to give it a shot. On September 2, 2008, a beta version of Google Chrome was released for the Windows XP / Vista operating system. It featured incredibly simplistic design, lightning fast performance (due to a lack of constant pop ups and un-necessary applications), and new features such as tabbed browsing and a multi-link homepage. As of June 2012, after approximately 8 upgrades / new versions, Google Chrome has 32.76% of the world's usage as primary web browser, making it not only the most powerful but the most widely used browser today.
What is it that makes Google Chrome still such a powerful browser compared to its rivals? Why haven't they caught on to Chrome's simplistic and modern layout? Better yet, is this still the beginning of Google? Is there a way for them to further improve their already successful browser? Let's find out.
It is no longer a secret that the standard web browser, Internet Explorer, has fallen off the map. Mac's are loaded with Safari, and most Windows users change their default browser from Internet Explorer to another provider within the first 4-5 hours of owning their new PC. Frankly, the only people who still use Internet Explorer are those who do not know how to intall a faster browser.
After the constant necessary I.E. upgrades, add ons, and slow performance, Google (the worlds #1 used search engine to date) decided to give it a shot. On September 2, 2008, a beta version of Google Chrome was released for the Windows XP / Vista operating system. It featured incredibly simplistic design, lightning fast performance (due to a lack of constant pop ups and un-necessary applications), and new features such as tabbed browsing and a multi-link homepage. As of June 2012, after approximately 8 upgrades / new versions, Google Chrome has 32.76% of the world's usage as primary web browser, making it not only the most powerful but the most widely used browser today.
What is it that makes Google Chrome still such a powerful browser compared to its rivals? Why haven't they caught on to Chrome's simplistic and modern layout? Better yet, is this still the beginning of Google? Is there a way for them to further improve their already successful browser? Let's find out.
What I love most about Chrome
Google Chrome's simplicity makes it fast. Very fast. There is no denying that loading a web page in Chrome is virtually seconds faster than its competitors, even on the slowest of computers. The tabbed browsing actually works, and can be shifted to new windows and repositioned with the simple click of a mouse or trackpad. The scroll bar is modern and sleek, the settings are understandable and can be modified to a decent extent, and the homepage offers eight elegantly laid out mini-views of a users "most viewed pages". Chrome's eight viewer tabs can also be repositioned and relocated individually, allowing users to move around their pages similar to the way iPhone users move around their apps on the homepage. And last but certainly not least, the search bar provided at the top is not only for exact hyperlinks. In Chrome, the search bar is actually the same exact source found in the Google standard homepage (www.Google.com). No other browser has been able to offer all of these options without sacrificing speed - which most consider the #1 priority of a web browser.
Google Chrome's simplicity makes it fast. Very fast. There is no denying that loading a web page in Chrome is virtually seconds faster than its competitors, even on the slowest of computers. The tabbed browsing actually works, and can be shifted to new windows and repositioned with the simple click of a mouse or trackpad. The scroll bar is modern and sleek, the settings are understandable and can be modified to a decent extent, and the homepage offers eight elegantly laid out mini-views of a users "most viewed pages". Chrome's eight viewer tabs can also be repositioned and relocated individually, allowing users to move around their pages similar to the way iPhone users move around their apps on the homepage. And last but certainly not least, the search bar provided at the top is not only for exact hyperlinks. In Chrome, the search bar is actually the same exact source found in the Google standard homepage (www.Google.com). No other browser has been able to offer all of these options without sacrificing speed - which most consider the #1 priority of a web browser.
Figure No. 2 - A view of Google Chrome's secondary view page, available by clicking the right arrow on the main screen.
Room for Improvement
Although I honestly love using Chrome, and enjoy the knowledge that I am using the most up-to-date web browser on the planet whenever I do my research, I must admit there are a few drawbacks and flaws to the design. Most are simply design errors, which could easily be fixable by Google's design team. I have labeled four (4) areas where I feel the chrome design could be vastly improved.
Although I honestly love using Chrome, and enjoy the knowledge that I am using the most up-to-date web browser on the planet whenever I do my research, I must admit there are a few drawbacks and flaws to the design. Most are simply design errors, which could easily be fixable by Google's design team. I have labeled four (4) areas where I feel the chrome design could be vastly improved.
Figure No. 3 - four key points where I feel Chrome can be improved (see description below following each number)
1. The first and for many the most annoying problem with the Chrome design is the odd way of accessing user settings and controls. In most current web design / graphic design areas, usually clicking on the "main icon" results in a hyperlink being addressed, and a pop up / view point window will emerge with different variables, including settings, preferences, etc. However in Google Chrome, in order to access all these settings, the user must click a wrench located in the upper right hand corner of the screen. This honestly wouldn't be a problem, if there wasn't a quite apparent logo in the lower left hand corner of the screen diagonal from the wrench. This is a problem with Mapping (a users logical connection between two entities). We are trained through trial and error to know that in most websites and browsers, clicking on any sort of company logo usually brings you to either a home page or a settings menu. In chrome, it appears the logo has absolutely no use whatsoever besides advertising the web browser to whoever might be looking at your homepage. Mozilla Firefox, one of Chrome's largest rivals, offers users the ability to adjust settings through multiple logos as well as a gear for all preferences.
2. In order to access Google's secondary homepage featuring the apps and extensions, the user can either click on the tiny arrow or two tabs highlighted in Figure 3. However, the problem comes from user visibility. To be completely honest, it took me a few months to even notice the tiny arrow located to the right of the eight tabs. When you scroll your mouse to the right side of the screen, the entire block surround the arrow (quite a large space) highlights in gray. However, the user has absolutely no indication of there being this entire secondary page unless he or she accidentally stumbles upon the side of the screen as I did.
3. The "insert your bookmarks here" section is permanently at the top of the screen. It can not be removed. If one has no bookmarks (as I do not), it leaves quite an ugly hyperlink and box at the top of the screen which quite frankly ruins the entire modern and simplistic theme. There is no way whatsoever of removing this box unless a user chooses to import bookmarks, etc. To my knowledge, all three of Chromes competitors (Internet Explorer 9, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari) allow users to remove any sort of pop up containing bookmarks.
4. Perhaps the worst of them all. The thing that drives me crazy about Chrome is the lack of user input in the choosing of which eight tabs will be displayed. Google has provided an in-depth algorithm in which it sorts out the eight most visited pages a user frequents throughout the day, and keeps them as tabs. The only input a user has is the removal button ( a pop up X which appears in the right hand corner of each tab when it is scrolled over), allowing you to "remove a thumbnail" which then forces the algorithm to sort through other frequently visited sites. In Safari, there are 12 tabs, and the user can "drag a page to Top Sites by adding its address (URL) to visible window. There are also 3 different viewer settings in Safari made available right from the home screen, small (16 boxes) , medium (12 boxes), and large (8 boxes). Chrome has only one viewer setting with 8 boxes.
2. In order to access Google's secondary homepage featuring the apps and extensions, the user can either click on the tiny arrow or two tabs highlighted in Figure 3. However, the problem comes from user visibility. To be completely honest, it took me a few months to even notice the tiny arrow located to the right of the eight tabs. When you scroll your mouse to the right side of the screen, the entire block surround the arrow (quite a large space) highlights in gray. However, the user has absolutely no indication of there being this entire secondary page unless he or she accidentally stumbles upon the side of the screen as I did.
3. The "insert your bookmarks here" section is permanently at the top of the screen. It can not be removed. If one has no bookmarks (as I do not), it leaves quite an ugly hyperlink and box at the top of the screen which quite frankly ruins the entire modern and simplistic theme. There is no way whatsoever of removing this box unless a user chooses to import bookmarks, etc. To my knowledge, all three of Chromes competitors (Internet Explorer 9, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari) allow users to remove any sort of pop up containing bookmarks.
4. Perhaps the worst of them all. The thing that drives me crazy about Chrome is the lack of user input in the choosing of which eight tabs will be displayed. Google has provided an in-depth algorithm in which it sorts out the eight most visited pages a user frequents throughout the day, and keeps them as tabs. The only input a user has is the removal button ( a pop up X which appears in the right hand corner of each tab when it is scrolled over), allowing you to "remove a thumbnail" which then forces the algorithm to sort through other frequently visited sites. In Safari, there are 12 tabs, and the user can "drag a page to Top Sites by adding its address (URL) to visible window. There are also 3 different viewer settings in Safari made available right from the home screen, small (16 boxes) , medium (12 boxes), and large (8 boxes). Chrome has only one viewer setting with 8 boxes.
Figure No. 3 - a view of Safari's fully customizable home page, where users determine which sites are shown.
How to fix these problems
1. A simple html fix would do the trick of not having a settings menu pop up when the chrome logo is clicked. This would allow for a much more obvious and easy way to access certain settings (not all preferences have to be accessed through this. In fact, maybe only the top 5 or 6 settings would be accessed, and then have a "more options" link at the end of the menu bar)
2. The arrow should be much more visible. I understand that keeping it small makes it modern and sleek, but it is far too small. Perhaps keeping a stem out of the arrow ( -> as opposed to >) would make it more visible and obvious to the user. Also a different color (perhaps red, green, or yellow - the google chrome logo colors) could be applied to improve visibility.
3. There should be an option for users to disable the bookmarks bar if he or she chooses. This could be applied through the wrench settings feature, and would streamline the view of the homepage immensely. In fact, the bookmarks tab is the only thing which does not really "fit" aesthetically on the homepage.
4. There should be an available option for users to directly tell Chrome which eight pages should be visible. Say a user likes frequently visiting the Facebook homepage and the Facebook profile timeline page - both of these will be displayed due to the Chrome viewer algorithm. Personally, my youtube account and the youtube homepage always shows up on my eight tabs, and it drives me insane. By allowing users to chose which eight tabs should be viewed, it would allow for a more pleasant home screen. Finally, by adopting Safari's multiple viewer settings idea (small, medium, and large boxes), it would allow the user for even more customization and personal preference changes.
1. A simple html fix would do the trick of not having a settings menu pop up when the chrome logo is clicked. This would allow for a much more obvious and easy way to access certain settings (not all preferences have to be accessed through this. In fact, maybe only the top 5 or 6 settings would be accessed, and then have a "more options" link at the end of the menu bar)
2. The arrow should be much more visible. I understand that keeping it small makes it modern and sleek, but it is far too small. Perhaps keeping a stem out of the arrow ( -> as opposed to >) would make it more visible and obvious to the user. Also a different color (perhaps red, green, or yellow - the google chrome logo colors) could be applied to improve visibility.
3. There should be an option for users to disable the bookmarks bar if he or she chooses. This could be applied through the wrench settings feature, and would streamline the view of the homepage immensely. In fact, the bookmarks tab is the only thing which does not really "fit" aesthetically on the homepage.
4. There should be an available option for users to directly tell Chrome which eight pages should be visible. Say a user likes frequently visiting the Facebook homepage and the Facebook profile timeline page - both of these will be displayed due to the Chrome viewer algorithm. Personally, my youtube account and the youtube homepage always shows up on my eight tabs, and it drives me insane. By allowing users to chose which eight tabs should be viewed, it would allow for a more pleasant home screen. Finally, by adopting Safari's multiple viewer settings idea (small, medium, and large boxes), it would allow the user for even more customization and personal preference changes.
Trade-off's and Conclusion
To put it quite simply, Google Chrome is the best we have at the moment. Even with the four flaws I mentioned above, I can't imagine going back to another browser. That being said, why haven't they implemented these ideas mentioned? Surely I am not the first one to notice this.
Well, to be honest, Google can't allow a few people to ruin its "perfect system". If it isn't broken, don't fix it, is a common motto used in today's society. Google has shelled millions of dollars into research and design to make its lightning fast browser, and it appears that by having it with a limited number of slides, fewer hyperlinks on the homepage, and a permanent bookmarks box, they have cracked the code of user-friendliness. If they allowed us to alter the text boxes and view tabs on the homepage, speed decreases. If they allowed for more graphics, etc, speed will decrease. They have over 30% of the human population using their site and it has only developed from a beta - system in four years. If a few people are having problems with not enough visibility for the side menu bar and secondary home-page view, they will simply not know those features exist. If users wanted to be able to manually determine which eight pages would be shown on the homepage, and determine the size of the viewer boxes, the would have to suffer from drastic performance decreases. We like to think that everything should be catered to us in todays world, but the fact is that Google has really nailed it for the general public. If enough time is spent on the internet, surely we will eventually realize how to alter settings, and how to deal with the lack of user-input for the eight slides. Until then, Google will continue researching and developing the worlds fastest and best web browser - Google Chrome.
To put it quite simply, Google Chrome is the best we have at the moment. Even with the four flaws I mentioned above, I can't imagine going back to another browser. That being said, why haven't they implemented these ideas mentioned? Surely I am not the first one to notice this.
Well, to be honest, Google can't allow a few people to ruin its "perfect system". If it isn't broken, don't fix it, is a common motto used in today's society. Google has shelled millions of dollars into research and design to make its lightning fast browser, and it appears that by having it with a limited number of slides, fewer hyperlinks on the homepage, and a permanent bookmarks box, they have cracked the code of user-friendliness. If they allowed us to alter the text boxes and view tabs on the homepage, speed decreases. If they allowed for more graphics, etc, speed will decrease. They have over 30% of the human population using their site and it has only developed from a beta - system in four years. If a few people are having problems with not enough visibility for the side menu bar and secondary home-page view, they will simply not know those features exist. If users wanted to be able to manually determine which eight pages would be shown on the homepage, and determine the size of the viewer boxes, the would have to suffer from drastic performance decreases. We like to think that everything should be catered to us in todays world, but the fact is that Google has really nailed it for the general public. If enough time is spent on the internet, surely we will eventually realize how to alter settings, and how to deal with the lack of user-input for the eight slides. Until then, Google will continue researching and developing the worlds fastest and best web browser - Google Chrome.
Critique by Frank Romano, Cornell University '15
