Collect feedback on proposed designs for persistent mode

Summary: The following ticket describes proposed, upcoming UX research efforts to assist (in what has been tentatively named) Mullvad Browser's persistent mode rollout and design.

Research Plan

Date: September 15, 2025

Author: @alicia

Research Context

TPI's Applications team has been tasked with revising Mullvad Browser's current normal/ private browsing schema.

  • Normal mode: the browser remembers browsing information (e.g. logins and cookies preferences) even after it is shut down. In this mode, information like logins and cookies preferences don't need to be input/set each session.
  • Private mode: the browser remembers information within a session, but not after it is shut down. In this mode, the user needs to log in and set cookies preferences every time they start a new browsing session.

'Persistent' mode has been pitched as an alternative, offering the privacy affordances of 'Private' mode as well as the core conveniences of 'Normal' mode. This mode would comparable to today's 'Private' mode, however, it would allow users to add websites to a list of exceptions, permitting the Browser to remember information associated with those websites between sessions.

Additionally: 2025 UX survey results suggest there is an appetite among Tor Browser users (especially new users) for more conventional browser features (e.g., saved browsing history, password manager function). Persistent mode fits squarely into this category and research gives us an opportunity to color these quantitative findings.

Desired Research Outcomes
  • UI-level recommendations for increased feature comprehension/ findability
  • clarity on perceived value prop of persistent mode from the perspective of end users (this can help us to develop additional informational copy when rolling out/ positioning this feature & developing onboarding flow/copy)
  • clarity on how persistent mode should behave

Visual assets:

Proposed Research Timeline:

Week Count Week of Action
0 Sept 15 Dev + UXD + UXR research kickoff (clarify ft functionality + value prop + ideal timeline)
1 Sept 22 UXR research plan design pt. 1 (articulate core research objectives + desired outcomes)
2 Sept 29

Stakeholders provide feedback on research plan draft 1 @morgan @jwilde @ma1 @pierov
3 Oct 6

UXD provides working designs @felicia

UXR research plan design pt. 2 (UXR completes user-facing script once designs are in hand)
4 Oct 13

Mullvad <> Tor meeting @ruihildt @bella
5 Oct 20

(if Mullvad team assists with identifying interested prospective participants) Mullvad + UXR initiate outreach @ruihildt
6 Oct 27 UXR conducts research sessions
7 Nov 3 UXR analysis
8 Nov 10

[EOW] UXR provides lightweight report to UXD + Dev team @felicia @morgan
9 Nov 17

UXD iterates based on UXR recommendations @felicia
10 Nov 24

UXD iterates based on UXR recommendations @felicia
11 Dec 1

[EOW] UXD hands designs to dev team @felicia
Research Questions
  • How clear or unclear is persistent mode’s 1) value proposition and 2) affordances and limitations?
  • How easy or difficult is it to enable the feature via Mullvad/Tor Browsers’ ‘chrome’?
  • How easy or difficult is to enable the feature via Mullvad/Tor Browsers’ settings menu?
Research Objectives
  • Assess user comprehension of persistent mode
  • Assess findability of persistent mode functionality
  • Assess user mental model mis/alignment with feature onboarding and proposed IA
Proposed Methodology
  • semi-structured interview
  • concept testing
  • usability testing

Session Format

  • Remote, moderated video call
  • Screenshare

Session Tooling

  • Signal
  • Figma-based design assets
  • Nextcloud spreadsheet for note-taking
Suggested Participants
  • occasional and frequent Mullvad Browser users
  • self-identified less and more tech-savvy users
UXR checklist + research status:
  • Plan research (methods, scope, script)
    • define timeline
    • clarify feature value prop and function w/ UXD and devs
    • define tasks to be tested and outline their associated in-platform user path
    • draft user-script + solicit feedback
    • define session logistics (duration, recording protocol and associated tooling of choice)
    • define plausible in-platform scenarios to test ft findability
    • draft rainbow chart
  • Participant recruitment
    • clarify ppt parameters (if any) per P131
    • define ppt compensation amt
    • create screener
    • proofread screener
  • Conduct research
    • conduct 6-8 sessions
    • clarify incentive delivery process depending on users' geo
    • deliver incentives [once process ^ is clarified]
  • Analyze
    • share high level theme recap after all sessions in gitlab ticket prior to report completion
  • Wrap up
    • vet findings w/ UXD + Dev (assessing early report recommendation feasibility)
    • modify report per UXD + Dev feedback (if any)
    • report readout
    • create public report and link from here
    • archive report in Nextcloud
    • submit incentive receipts for researcher reimbursement

Relevant documentation

Edited by Alicia Zamora