The same goes for the iOS app (I know this is a browser thread) but it needs to be consistent everywhere. When you search it views the item to edit it. It should always be click to launch. When you go searching for a site you want to log into, you click it launches and auto fills. I’m always searching and clicking on the item to then realize I need to menu press then launch. 1.5 years I’m on Bitwarden and I still haven’t been able to train myself the right way.
Feature name
Consistent behavior when click a bitwarden entry
Feature function
-
What will this feature do differently?
when click an entry it should always open it for inspecting\editing so it is always consistent for users. -
What benefits will this feature bring?
Whenever opening the bitwarden extension it is very confusing to remember if click an entry will try to login or open it for inspecting\editing. There is currently a button that when searching for an entry it appears and allows you to open the website but when not searching the button in the same position is the button to edit the entry. This is extremely confusing especially for elderly users. The behavior should be consistent. I believe the best way to handle this would be for the button next to the copy username button should always either attempt to autofill if on the website or open the link to the website if not on the website (it will be a login button) and clicking on the name of your entry should always open it to inspect\edit the entry.
I wanted to add my vote for this as well. I’ve been teaching several non-tech people how to use Bitwarden and the inconsistent behavior between the Tab and Vault pages is very difficult for many to understand.
My vote is for:
- A click on a vault item name always invokes the View functionality
- Both the Tab and Vault pages get a new blue icon to the right of each vault entry called Auto-Fill
- The Auto-Fill icon is only blue and active when the auto-fill is appropriate for that vault item. The icon will be blue for every Login entry on the Tab page (since the URI of the vault items will all match the current browser tab) but only the matching items when on the Vault page.
- If Auto-Fill is not appropriate for a vault item, the button will be grayed out (rather than having it disappear). Most Auto-Fill buttons on the Vault page will be grayed out.
These changes should make the interface much more consistent and easier for new users, and less tech savvy users, to understand!
2 Likes
Thanks for the feedback on this one!
One other simplification thought would be to remove the Tab page all together. Then, simply have the vault items that match the current URI listed at the top of the Vault page in a separate section called Matching Logins.
Thanks for listening!
1 Like
One other simplification thought would be to remove the Tab page all together
This may be the best solution yet! Honestly, having two separate lists (“Tab” and “Vault”) is just counterintuitive. Users have a vault containing their passwords. When we open it, we should see the most relevant entries first…just bubble them to the top. Then there is only ONE UI to worry about and every button can have a consistent location and function. Period.
Make this happen, BW team!
I used my last remaining vote on this Feature Request. After 6 months of using the Bitwarden browser extension, I still never remember whether clicking the item will auto-fill or open the item (and I even have trouble interpreting the whether the “card” icon in the Tab view means “auto-fill”, “open”, or “edit”). I have to wait for the tool-tip almost every time. Those who read my posts on the forum will know that I generally know my way around the Bitwarden software, so it seems reasonable to attribute this recalcitrant usability problem to sub-optimal UX design.
I wish that the Bitwarden team would be as responsive (or more) to complaints about UX design as they have been for complaints about GUI design. The GUI-focused users got their rounded corners and their extra padding — could the UX-focused users now also be thrown a bone, please?
The key confusion is that the action of clicking the item name produces different actions depending on whether you are in the Tab View or in the Vault (or Search Results) view. The action should be identical each time (and as noted above, it probably makes most sense if that action is to open the item for viewing). Thus, on the tab view, an “Auto-fill” icon is needed (in place of the inscrutable card-shaped “Open” icon). If this icon is sufficiently visually distinct from the “Launch” icon, then it may not be a problem that the first icon is different in the Tab and Vault views (if UX studies show otherwise, then add a 5th icon, and gray out the one that is not active).
I do not agree with the proposal to eliminate the Tab view. This would add additional steps for auto-filling credit card and identity information — since there is currently no keyboard shortcut for auto-filling credit cards, removal of the Tab view would significantly degrade UX for this use-case.
There are other examples in the Bitwarden browser extension where inconsistent UX behavior causes problems and confusion (e.g., the buttons in the upper left and right corners) — but those may be a topic for another Feature Request thread. The bottom line is that imposing consistency across the browser extension user interface, which should be guided by quantitative studies of real users interacting with the software and by the UX design literature, is a great unmet need in this otherwise excellent software product.
I would even go so far as to propose temporarily re-enabling usage analytics (on an opt-in basis, of course).
2 Likes
I have strongly supported requests for additional keyboard functionality for years now…the fact that we don’t have keyboard navigation in the browser extension is sad…but a different story.
I also hate the new, more rarefied UI that forces scrolling in many situations where it did not before.
But in the long term, I think consolidating the UI into a single vault/list – with good tools to drill into it quickly – is “the way”. Since we all have different use cases and most-frequently-used items, I’d propose some way to “pin” items to the top of the list: credit cards, handy secure notes, etc. Then you’d know that you never need to scroll for them.
And if they ever implement keyboard navigation, they’d be just a tap or two away.
Not sure why @ohmer deleted his post. His frustration echoed my original post in this thread, now over 5 YEARS OLD.
I’ll say it again: there should be ONE, CONSISTENT behaviour when a login is clicked in the browser extension. The sometimes “view” and sometimes “autofill” situation we have now is extremely frustrating. Even 5 years later, I still mess up and do the wrong thing regularly.
It’s a contravention of fundamental UI design theory, not even debatable to most designers. It needs to be fixed. Just make clicking always “view” and give us an autofill button when the context supports it. Please!