The document describes a proposed feature called "History Sphere" for the Firefox browser. It allows users to search their browsing history based on pages they remember visiting along the way to a desired page, rather than just searching for the exact page. The search results are displayed in a visual context showing the relationship between pages. Users can then traverse this "history sphere" to reconstruct their path to the target page.

1. Firefox: History Sphere Parsons The New School for Design | Margaret Moser and Lien Tran
Problem:
User wants to locate a page in browser history based on her recollection of a page or pages that she visited on the way to the
desired page. Current history features do not allow the user to use this kind of information directly.
Objective:
Enable the user to reconstruct the path she took to the desired page using her recollection of the pages she visited on the way.
Solution:
Allow the user to search for the page she does remember using the existing text search. When the page is identified, present it in a
visual context together with pages visited before and after. Allow the user to traverse the visual representation to reconstruct her path
to the desired page.
To Begin:
Click on History < History Sphere menu option in Firefox (or use the keyboard shortcut).
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2. Firefox: History Sphere Parsons The New School for Design | Margaret Moser and Lien Tran
History Sphere popup window appears.
Enter search string, example: gdc
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3. Firefox: History Sphere Parsons The New School for Design | Margaret Moser and Lien Tran
Relevant webpages dynamically populate based on string entered.
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4. Firefox: History Sphere Parsons The New School for Design | Margaret Moser and Lien Tran
Click on the arrow to the left of a website title to view the dates/times this website was visited.
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5. Firefox: History Sphere Parsons The New School for Design | Margaret Moser and Lien Tran
This expands to show the list of dates/times when a particular webpage was visited.
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6. Firefox: History Sphere Parsons The New School for Design | Margaret Moser and Lien Tran
Click one of the dates visited.
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7. Firefox: History Sphere Parsons The New School for Design | Margaret Moser and Lien Tran
The history sphere appears showing the browsing history for the selected browsing session.
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8. Firefox: History Sphere Parsons The New School for Design | Margaret Moser and Lien Tran
The history sphere’s focus (highlighted with a blue box) is on the webpage from which the browsing session was selected up top.
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9. Firefox: History Sphere Parsons The New School for Design | Margaret Moser and Lien Tran
The items in the top ring share the same source site for the selected browsing period.
Up to five child webpages appear with text telling you how many total pages were accessed from the selected source site.
total number of
child webpages
for a particular
source site
(including the five
displayed)
source site
(parent)
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10. Firefox: History Sphere Parsons The New School for Design | Margaret Moser and Lien Tran
The user can use the left and right arrows on the keyboard to scroll through the children pages.
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11. Firefox: History Sphere Parsons The New School for Design | Margaret Moser and Lien Tran
The user can use the up arrow on keyboard to change the source site to the child page currently highlighted. The top results will
change to show the new source site’s child webpages. The user can use the down arrow to change the source site to the current
source site’s parent. The current source site then becomes a child page and the history sphere’s focus (highlighted with a blue box).
source site
(parent)
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