[tbb-bugs] #24309 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Activity 4.1: Improve how circuits are displayed to the user

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#24309: Activity 4.1: Improve how circuits are displayed to the user
-------------------------------------------+--------------------------
 Reporter:  isabela                        |          Owner:  tbb-team
     Type:  defect                         |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium                         |      Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser       |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal                         |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  ux-team, TorBrowserTeam201803  |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                                 |         Points:
 Reviewer:  antonela                       |        Sponsor:
-------------------------------------------+--------------------------

Comment (by gk):

 Replying to [comment:26 arthuredelstein]:
 > I have a working prototype for a patch. I have posted two screenshots
 below. I made a few tweaks to Antonela's version 8 design.
 >
 > I simplified the title of the circuit section to just "Tor Circuit,"
 because the domain or website name is shown in the "Secure Connection"
 section right above it. I moved the domain name to the last node in the
 circuit.

 Looks good to me!

 > It occurs to me that the Tor Circuit section needs an icon at left,
 similar to the lock in the "Secure Connection" section and the Permissions
 [✓|x] icon below. Any ideas what this icon should be? (An onion is
 probably not the right choice, because we're already using that for onion
 sites.) One possibility would be the "relay" icon in
 https://people.torproject.org/~irl/icons/

 What makes you believe it needs an icon, too? I think it's fine without
 one.

 > Any thoughts about where the "Guard (i)" and "Learn More" links should
 lead to? Somewhere in the Tor Browser manual? Or should these be tooltips?
 Or perhaps a single large info section could pop up next to the circuit
 display whenever the user hovers over it. Also I'm wondering if it's bad
 to have both the Guard (i) and "Learn More" links, since they seem to be
 redundant.

 I think it depends on how much text we want to show. I am inclined to give
 a bit of text ("it stays the same for an amount of time") conveying the
 most important thing for users and link to the Tor Browser manual because

 a) there one can explain this in more details (referencing other sources)
 b) users that might be confused by guard nodes might be confused by other
 parts of Tor Browser and having the manual open might help with that, too.

 Yes, the "Learn more" link should go. Actually, the more I think about the
 more I feel the whole text below the "Load New Circuit"-button should go
 because users might think the text is related to the button (which it is
 not). I think just sticking to the "i" icon and giving the most-pressing
 information while hovering over it is quite sufficient. At least for a
 first round of testing in the alpha versions of Tor Browser.

 > Also, I liked Sukhbir's suggestion about adding an "Exit" label. We
 could even add a "Middle relay" label or more information about an onion
 site's relays. But I don't want it to look too cluttered either. Maybe
 tooltips are the best thing?

 Let's think about that in the next round of iteration, if we really want
 it? I am not convinced yet and we might want to incorporate feedback from
 testing our current design idea before putting more info into the display.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/24309#comment:27>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
The Tor Project: anonymity online