14 DAY TRIAL // User experience is very much anchored in the technical details of a web app, service or any software out there, but just as important is the presentation and the overall look and feel. Firefox is a great browser used by millions of people around the world and Mozilla wanted to let those people customize their browsing experience to the fullest, a philosophy close to heart at the open-source foundation.
Earlier this year it launched Personas, a project designed to enable users to change the look of their browser in the easiest way possible. It has actually come a long way in the months since it launched and now Mozilla Labs is introducing Personas 2.0.
“The Mozilla Labs team launched Personas 1.0 in March with the idea that it shouldn’t be hard to make your internet browser more fun and personal. Over the past eight months, with your feedback and support, we iterated on the Personas experience fifteen times (10 times on the website, 5 times on the extension) and are now pleased to introduce Personas 2.0,” Mozilla's Ryan Doherty and Suneel Gupta wrote for the Personas team.
The biggest attention in this latest release was on the site, which got a rather thorough redesign with an emphasis on a cleaner look and easier navigation, but also on the functionality. The landing page got cleaned up and now detects if the browser already has Personas installed so that the download button doesn't show up unnecessarily.
There is better integration between the site and the add-on, or the built-in Personas feature available in the Firefox 3.6 betas, with features like search and favorites. Another new element is the “Up and Coming” section which features designs that are rapidly gaining in popularity.
Speaking of designs, Mozilla is claiming that now there are close to 40,000 designs available, as opposed to the 150 it launched with. Granted, a lot of them aren't exactly masterpieces, but the sheer number means that great designs are now in ample supply and you can easily find one you like. The next big focus for the project is localization, which you can help with here, and likely the built in functionality in Firefox which is coming with 3.6.
Personas 1.5 for Firefox is available for download here.
