Hello Tor!
A lot of exciting things happened last month. We launched Tor
Browser 8 Alpha! It includes a few of UX/UI improvements we have
been working on this year, and I'd like to go a little bit deep
here:
(a) New Circuit Display
https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/24309
Problem
We found that users don't know if circuits work per tab or globally
(Tor Browser has first party isolation by default). Also, many users
expect the guard node to change when asking for a new circuit.
Indeed, there is nothing on circuit display that tells the user the
first node is a guard, what guards are, and how it works when Tor
creates new circuits for the user.
Hypothesis
We are consistently moving site-specific settings into the URL bar.
We thought that running the circuit display to the URL bar area will
help users to relate the circuit and the domain. Improve the
comprehension of how Tor has been building the circuit is also part
of it project scope. Related with the guard node: if we highlight
the Guard node label at the UI, users will be able to identify it
easier and faster. Finally, the Community team is updating the Tor
Browser Manual with more information about Guard nodes for users who
want to [Learn More].
(b) .onion security indicators
https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/23247
Problem
Tor Browser doesn't communicate ideally to users that visit .onion
sites. For example, users visiting .onion services under HTTP looks
scary with lots of warnings. Also, we are missing the opportunity to
educate users about .onion services.
Hypothesis
Adding an onion icon will help users to identify onion services.
Moreover, keeping our security indicator icons close to default
security indicators will help users to react accordingly to their
past experiences.
You can read more about this release here [0]. Please download it,
try it and report us what do you think. Next steps include a new
About:Tor Page[1], a Tor Browser onboarding[2] and a reviewed update
Tor Browser flow[3].
Helen Nyinakiiza (nyinz) joined us as a User Research Coordinator
last month. She is working on reporting the results of all the user
testing sessions we ran in India, Spain, Uganda, and Colombia
related with this release.
Last month also, we had been in Colombia doing privacy and security
training, spreading Tor tools and learning from our new and old
users. During this period, we were able to conduct six digital
security and privacy training and reach three cities in Colombia.
Thanks Fundación Karisma, Congreso de los Pueblos, Hacklab Bogota,
Colnodo and many others for receiving us!
Our support portal got its soft launch[4]. Emmapeel joined us as a
Localization Manager, and she will be helping us to sort all the
localization efforts we need to release it in our Tier1 languages.
If you find any bug or you want to report anything you can report
those in various ways[5]. If you're going to help us with
translations, then you're welcome here[6].
We have a lot of things on our plate. You are welcome to join us on
Tuesdays at 1600 UTC in #tor-meeting if you want to get involved!
On behalf of the Tor UX team,
Antonela