A Week in the Life of a Browser – Refreshed

The Latest Study

Today, we are excited to announce the imminent release of our next Test Pilot study, A Week in the Life of a Browser v2. This study is an update to the original Week in the Life of a Browser study, and adds some very important metrics, including memory usage over time and browser startup speed.

The Week in the Life of a Browser v2 Study will run from October 2010 to October 2011, collecting data on the browser’s basic performance for one week, once every month. The goal is to explore the general trends of browser usage over time, which can help us design a better browser. In addition to memory usage and startup speed, the study will collect data regarding: session restore, browser startups/shutdowns/restarts, active/idle sessions, plugin and extension versions, age and size of profiles, private browsing time, and download and bookmark activities (NO content will be collected).

Test Champion:Jinghua Zhang, User Experience Catalyst in Mozilla Labs
Test Duration: Recurring study*, runs for 1 week every 30 days

*For this recurring study, users can choose to opt in or out of the study at any time. Each study phase is independent and equally important to us. Whether you choose to participate for the whole year, or only for a single week, the data that you share is extremely valuable.

Privacy

Security and privacy are priorities for Mozilla, especially when dealing with user data. Test Pilot privacy settings give users control over their data – these privacy settings include:

  • Participants’ data will be transmitted to Mozilla only when they take all of the following actions:
    * Join the Firefox 4 Beta program by downloading the beta with the Feedback Add-On.
    * Submit data when the test is finished. Participants will be able to review all data before choosing whether or not to submit it.

  • Test data will be stored anonymously and in aggregate. None of it will be publicly associated with any personally identifiable information.
  • Participants can quit a Test Pilot study before they submit any test data.
  • Participants can opt-out from all user studies or disable the Feedback Add-On itself at any time. Learn more.

Get Involved!

  • If you are testing Firefox 4 Beta, the Feedback Add-On will notify you before the study starts, at which point you can view a detailed study description and choose to opt-out of the study if you wish. For more information on how Test Pilot in Firefox 4 beta works, please see the “How it Will Work” section here .
  • If you are not running Firefox 4 Beta, what are you waiting for? We invite you to get on the latest beta to participate in this study. Help test the future of Firefox by downloading the latest Firefox 4 Beta!
  • And of course, please share your questions and suggestions in the Test Pilot discussion group or on Twitter.