Help Improve Firefox User Experience

Are you a Firefox fan? If yes, why not help Mozilla improve Firefox more. Firefox developers are always adding new features and changing the existing functionality. Most of the times they try to do their best to meet the requirements, but many times they are short of data to know in which direction they need to move next. Being a developer myself I know how important data is to meet the users expectations.

Why not help Mozilla by providing the data like how we interact with Firefox by going through a series of tests? Mozilla Corp. has come up with an add-on for Firefox Test Pilot 0.4 using which you can help them improve Firefox.
You might have questions by now like: Do I need to be a Geek? What exactly do you need to do? What kinds tests? What kind of Data would be sent to Mozilla? What about Privacy?
Well, there is an answer for all these questions. Lets take a look at them 1 by 1.

Do I need to be a Geek?
No. The goal for this platform is to encourage everyone from all skill levels to improve the Web experience by conducting and participating in these tests.

What exactly do I need to do?

• Install the Test Pilot add-on for Firefox 
• Try out the cool new features and user interface ideas before anyone else does
• You will receive notifications on upcoming and finished tests
• You can leave the platform if you wish to quit
• If the test requires you to install a new feature or product, the platform will ask for your permission

What kinds tests?
This can be better explained with an example. Firefox keeps studying the user behavior with its browser to make it more user friendly. For such studies it needs the data about how users interact with the browser. Currently a survey is under schedule to understand what users typically do next after opening or closing a tab (Tab Open/Close). You don't have to do anything except use the Web normally. When you interact with tabs, Test Pilot will record what you do (open/close/switch etc) and when you do it (timestamp). Mozilla will then analyze this data to detect patterns that will help them build a better browser.

What kind of Data would be sent to Mozilla?
In the example of Tab Open/Close the data sent to Mozilla would be in CSV (comma-separated value) format. The first line of the file contains the column names. A chunk of sample data might look like this:

user, event_code, tab_position, tab_window, ui_method, tab_site_hash, num_tabs, timestamp
   1, 6, 3, 1, 0, 1, 4, 1252974367669                               

   1, 5, 0, 1, 1, 0, 4, 1252974422507                                     
   1, 10,0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1252974427743                               
   1, 9, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1253668079410                               
   1, 6, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1253668079792                               
   1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 0, 2, 1253668084072                               
   1, 5, 1, 1, 2, 0, 2, 1253668084102                               
   1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 0, 3, 1253668084427                               
   1, 5, 2, 1, 2, 0, 3, 1253668084471                               
   1, 1, 3, 1, 2, 0, 4, 1253668084531                               
   1, 5, 3, 1, 2, 0, 4, 1253668084568                               

What about Privacy?

• The websites (URLs) that you visit will never be recorded.
• At the end of the test, you will be able to choose if you want to submit your test data or not.
• All test data you submit will be anonymized and will not be personally identifiable.

So, buckle up and get ready for your first flight! Download Test Pilot 0.4