UI Framework doc: UX Guide for properties and actions on repository objects

[catenglaender]

We propose the guidelines in this PR as best practices for how to design and arrange properties and actions on repository objects to provide an intuitive, friction-less user experience.

We collected strategies that can assist developers and concept designers to create UIs that guide the user to the information and actions they are currently looking for while avoiding an overwhelming or cluttered presentation.

The main document describes relevant UX concepts like Information Architecture, User Intent and Mental Models and how they can be applied in the context of ILIAS repository objects and their elements.

A brief introduction to the topic of UX strategies and a link to the main document of this PR has been added to the Readme of the UI Framework.

We are interested in everyone's comments and are of course open to answer any questions about this PR. We would like to bring this proposal before the JF for approval, rejection or change requests.

This research and the proposal are part of a collaboration by CaT Concepts and Training GmbH and the University of Bern. Input and contributions by @yvseiler, @Amstutz, @nhaagen, @klees, @catkrahl shaped this proposal. Special thanks to the people who participated in the UI Item Workshop at CaT and @oliversamoila and Fabian Kruse for providing feedback as well as @jelieng for proof-reading.

[kergomard]

Thank you very much for this multilayered proposal that gives a lot of food for thought and good guidance! I'm especially glad about the practical next steps. This documents gives us very helpful heuristics and a common language for structuring our interfaces. On the other hand there might be a little risk in it: For me it makes it sound like "user-intent" is something clear and simple and this might (mostly) be true when looking at a single user in a given context. I believe that while some of our usability issues stem from unclear and ad hoc patterns that could and should very well be addressed with this approach, we should always keep in mind that others need a decision on the intents we want to support. Added versatility (e.g. a setup allowing Curated Views) will (probably) come with additional complexity in the interface overwhelming suppliers lacking curators. Part of which could be remediated with structured patterns and sensible defaults, but this in turn then can lead to additional programmatic complexity. So I think it is very important to keep in mind that contradicting expectations cannot be solved by more design expertise. Sending every proposal back for the designers to do one more round (a pattern so often seen lately) is just a strategy to block progress not the way for a perfect solution.

[Amstutz]

Hi @catenglaender

I am enthusiastic about this work. IMO this may well serve as a prototype for how we approach designing UI patterns like properties in UI components in the future. I particularly liked:

• The semantic classification (What is Information Architecture)
• The problem description with reference to existing issues (aka feature requests with a focus on single use cases)
• The focus on user intent as a guiding principle
• The derivation of the 3 scenarios (quick choice, comparing, managing) appendix of user input and general research
• The mapping to existing UI controls and identification of possible gaps
• The strategies to identify and bridge these caps

congratulations I look forward to next steps. IMO it would be worthwhile to integrate this doc into the repo near the UI Components and present it at the JF.

[matthiaskunkel]

Jour Fixe, 19 SEP 2022 : We highly appreciate this suggestion and accept it for trunk. In order to create a quick orientation for readers in terms of content, we still ask for the inclusion of a short abstract and a designation of the target group for this text. 

[klees]

I added a section about the target audience. I do not really understand what abstract we were looking for in the JF. Isn't this an abstract already? Also, I included some of @atoedt|s comments and gave some answer regarding her questions.

[Amstutz]

@klees thx for refining this according to the feedback.

@atoedt thx for the extensive feedback! I hope the points are taken care of. If something is still a miss, please do not hesitate, to discuss further keypoints by proposing changes by PR.

@catenglaender thx for this valuable work!