Background

While building the tabs feature (T384758), we made decisions on navigation as we went. There is no source of truth currently in Figma for the overarching flow to be able to easily suggest changes from.

We want to conduct a QA audit of the feature, to understand where the existing navigation and user experience is not adhering to the patterns users expect from other platforms

Task

Record and document via annotations the following elements on iOS phone. Always note where things have been opened in the current tab vs a new tab. Focus especially on navigation (back button, forwards in the overflow menu, swiping back) and identify any behavior that is unexpected to you, and that you think could be improved.
If the behavior is unclear, Safari's tabs behavior can be used as a reference.

• Opening tabs from external links
  • Opening a an external link when your last view in the Apps was tabs overview
  • Opening a an external link when your last view was an article
  • Are the back buttons as you expect?
  • Are there any lags or delays?
  • Opening an external link after the app has been backgrounded for a while
  • Opening an external link while in the middle of a rabbit hole, then then navigating forward and backwards: are the back buttons as you expect? Does the "forward" option in the overflow menu bottom right make sense?
• Going down a rabbit hole within a tab
  • Opening successive links in the same tab, then navigating forward and backwards: are the back buttons as you expect? Does the "forward" option in the overflow menu bottom right make sense?
  • Opening successive links in new tabs, then navigating forward and backwards: are the back buttons as you expect? Does the "forward" option in the overflow menu bottom right make sense?
• Switching tabs and going down a new rabbit hole
  • Going down a new rabbit hole in a new tab, then navigating forward and backwards: are the back buttons as you expect? Does the "forward" option in the overflow menu bottom right make sense?
• Opening new tabs from around the app
  • Long-press to open articles in new tab from locations around the app
  • Document any unexpected behavior: places we are not currently allowing people to open in new tab, and we should be
• Opening a new tab from the overview
  • Open multiple new tabs from the overview, and navigate backwards and forwards.
• Navigating into and out of tabs from the overview
  • Open tabs overview, switch tabs, close tabs overview
  • Is the current tab always clear and visible?
  • Does it ever take a long time to load? (Test with slow connection, and close to the limit of tabs)
  • Are there any unexpected jumps in the screen?
  • Do all tabs & images load correctly?
• Closing tabs
  • Close tabs from bottom of stack
  • Close tabs from middle of stack
• Opening article links from native views like talk pages and revision history
  • Do they open in the current tab or new tab
  • Does back & forward navigation work as expected?
• Opening article links from webviews
  • Do they open in the current tab or new tab
  • Does back & forward navigation work as expected?

Reference

Materials form when Tabs was initially being built (but may not be accurate to how it is currently behaving)

• Haley's initial attempt in Whimsical https://whimsical.com/ios-tabs-9HS4HtpSxNiVjhHDKGTvsj
• Robin's Notion https://www.notion.so/wikimediadesign/Tabs-concept-1c7cf6e2d4f6804fa3dae6b682a396c1#1c7cf6e2d4f680ac99f6df9c990ef4a3