Beyond Choice Screens: Exploring browser choice design interventions

A handful of powerful companies use their control of operating systems to push their own products, including browsers. This self-preferencing behavior ultimately hampers competition by making it difficult for new, potentially better, products to enter and grow in the market. Browser choice screens enable people to actively choose their preferred browser. They are an important step in leveling the playing field for browser competition and will be required by the EU’s Digital Markets Act. However, they are unlikely to effectively remedy years of operating system self-preferencing behavior on their own.

In an effort to explore browser choice interventions beyond choice screens, Mozilla conducted a series of design concept explorations focused on investigating better ways to connect people to the right browsers for them. We found that design choices can greatly impact people’s ability and desire to engage with browser choice interventions and we share a set of design principles based on this research that will be important for realizing the potential value of any browser choice market remedy.