Google Chrome: A User Interface Review

When Google’s Chrome was announced, I made some comments based on the information we had to hand at the time. To summarise, I thought the layout of Chrome was badly considered when assessing it based on Fitts’s Law.

Now that Chrome is actually out (for Windows, at least), we can take a closer look at it, put it to the test as it were. But unlike some other sources, who seem really caught up on whether Chrome is actually the fastest browser out there (Chrome on Windows XP through a VM doesn’t feel as fast as Safari on OSX, but that’s neither here nor there), I wanted to look at it from a user’s point of view. After all, if Google wants to be a success in the Browser Wars II (this time it’s personal?), they’re going to have to win the hearts and minds of ordinary users, and that isn’t done by rendering a JavaScript heavy page x milliseconds faster than FireFox. It’s done by being easy to use, and friendly. So let’s look at Chrome from a Use Experience and Usability point of view.

Associated Link: Full length review and discussion

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