Research and Development 1/2012-13/projecten/snafu/Expert review

Google chrome is a well-known internet browser. It’s not been long since Google has made an app for their android operating mobiles. It only works with Android 4.0 and above. It actually takes quite a space after installation, approx. 49mb which is a lot as other browsers like Firefox take only up to 15mb of space after installation. Now why is there is need for a new android browser if there are a lot already available in the market? Some of the other browsers are quite slow or have usability issues. Google certainly comes over most of them. Google chrome has most of the things that are needed for a small size android device. Now the critical goals for chrome are to browse the internet, download files easily, and manage passwords and usernames on the website safely & discretely.

Personas

Now chrome is not only meant for specific people. Like its search engine, it’s meant for everyone. Businessmen, students, teachers, kids, technical & non-technical people use chrome and of course expert and non-expert users of chrome, so in short for everyone.

Novice users

Novice users will have a while before they can straighten their hands on chrome. Because there are quite a few things like finding options tuning it to their personal needs. But once they get use to they will find all of their needs in this browser. They can sync their agenda, contacts and everything that goes with it with their Google account and access it everywhere.

Expert Users

They will be quite happy with it because everything looks almost the same as PC version of chrome so nothing will be hidden from them. They can use it with ease. They will find all of the favorite bookmarks, most visited pages en setting on the front page.

Scenarios

Opening-Tab Google chrome is well known for opening a number of tabs in just one browser and at the same time. A user has to tap on an icon at right upper corner of their devices, the icon looks like a page and it will go into smaller view mode and then user can click on new tab and a new tab will open. The same icon has a digit on it which tells the number of total tabs opened. Closing the tabs is done by tapping the same icon and then swiping your finger completely to left or right and the window is closed. Bookmarks/Most visited pages Accessing the bookmarks is quite easy; all you have to do is to tap on the star icon at the bottom and all of your bookmarks will appear. Most visited pages automatically appear at the launch of application. Open a webpage Opening a webpage is done just like in any other browser. Just tap at the address bar and a QWERTY keyboard will appear and one can type in easily. Plus using its algorithm it processes the words that one is typing and provides the most suitable address or Google search by learning user behavior Heuristics

Visibility of system status

Google chrome does a very good job with visibility. It informs the user always about what is going on and gives proper feedback if the application is performing well or has crashed. Once the user is typing in the address bar it does a proper job and provides the user with relative information within response time. All the icons that a user needs like bookmarks, recently closed tabs are on the main page once the application is launched. Match between system and the real world The language that Google chrome uses is also very friendly and one can easily understand and can find things that they want. All the information appears in a good order and makes sense. E.g. it does not automatically open few tabs all by itself so the user doesn’t has to.

User control and freedom

Unfortunately the only things good here is that if it crashes then it saves all the tabs and opens them once a user re-launces chrome. All the tabs then open automatically. But unfortunately except for this there is nothing in to help and support user. E.g. if the browser stops working then your android device stops working too plus if it gets stuck at one place there is no emergency exit.

Consistency and standards

There is no redundancy in chrome. It is a simple browser with a simple need to browse the web easy and fast. Everything is accessible with just one of two taps on the screen. And all the previous versions till the latest version have the same functionality with aids its user to use new versions with the same speed and ease.

Error prevention

It is very poorly designed in error prevention. Like windows version there are no error messages from Google if the app crashes. There is no fix and support if the application has crashed or stopped working. A user has to reinstall the app again to get rid of this crashing. Recognition rather than recall Here Google has done a very good job as everything is presented in front of the user, which reduces the user memory load. Things like options, settings, bookmarks, new tabs are present in front of users’ eye which is very useful for user. Flexibility and efficiency of use Google chrome is in general a fast browser but still sometimes it gets slow. It’s designed for newer Android versions so it takes more space in the memory. Normally if you are using with one or two tabs opened then it takes up to 50mb in the memory which is quite a lot for small devices. But other than that it is quite good at picking up what the user patterns and providing them with the most feasible matches for what they are looking for. As searching can be done by just typing in the address bar so it makes everything from opening a webpage to search the internet easier.

Aesthetic and minimalist design

It also does a good job in hiding irrelative information from the users. E.g. it will not provide the users with icons or options that are rarely used or irrelevant to the user. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors Chrome is a user friendly browser but when it comes to recognizing, diagnosing and recovering from errors it does not do a good job. The only thing that it does is it recovers all the tabs if the browser has crashed, sometimes it doesn’t even do that. Other than that it does nothing. In case it has crashed it does not tell the user that why it has crashed. It does not diagnose the problem and provide the users with a possible fix for their problem e.g. crashing or stop working or if keyboard stops working.

Help and documentation

This section in chrome is well made. It has all the documentation and help features which can help users to use chrome better. It has the list of all the FAQs and tips for users by learning which they can use it better. This section also handles some advances issues like setting to explain to the user what should be done in case they are looking for something specific.

Conclusion

Overall Google chrome is a good application for users who browse internet frequently as it learns user patterns and tries to customize user searches and web addresses according to user needs. It is an easy to use app and one will find ease and comfort while using it. Of course there are other technical issues that come with it like sometimes it doesn’t responds to the user or puts too much load on the device but hopefully all these issues will be taken into consideration and will be fixed soon enough. But overall it would be an enjoyable experience if you can ignore these small technical issues.