Indifference shouldn't be surprising for a minute detail. I didn't even know about the feature until I saw this thread (clicking address bar expands it), since I normally immediately start typing once I open a new tab.

I'd even argue that indifference should be the goal when making design changes; make subtle changes over time instead of the complete overhauls that are common today.

I totally agree, but only if there's also either (A) some people who actually like the change or (B) the change is addressing a specific UX problem.

If everyone is indifferent, why did you change anything?

It is possible to fix UI problems without people noticing.

Also, people quickly get used to suboptimal UI and all kinds of UI bugs. Fixing those bugs improves the experience for new users while acclimatized users will be indifferent or even hostile to the change. It's a classic dilemma for long-lived products.

I'm shocked that was the goal but I also couldn't grok the intent. The bar doesn't need to expand and look silly to make it obvious it's the selected input. We have perfectly adequate elements for that already. I assumed there were new features that they were trying to highlight in a non obvious way.

> the address bar already had a very prominent focus state with its thick blue outline.

Either I never noticed or that very prominent focus state was invisible in the theme I installed. So yes, it was definitely one of the most regular issues I had with Firefox and now it's fixed. Not in the most elegant way but it works for me.

>Indifference was more common, but, is that really a good outcome?

Indifference among people already using Firefox is a good outcome if it is viewed favorably by people new to Firefox, which is who I would guess these kinds of changes are aimed at.