UX Design for Version 5.5.1
Permalink 2 users found helpful
I wondered if any other editors using the C5 system find the top bar buttons usability difficult and confusing.
I really can't get used to the pull out tray of the Dashboard. The dashboard button appears like a button inviting the user to click on it. It behaves like a button bringing up a full view of the dashboard as an overlay.
However, on hovering over it for 0.5 seconds the dashboard automatically pulls down a menu dialogue. We don't need this automatic behaviour- it's irritating and confusing!
So now it's a button and hover thing combined- argggghhh!
At the moment, I click the dashboard button, but suddenly the pull-down shelf type menu rolls down. Immediately, the screen jerks and the full dashboard overlay appears.
I can see the dashboard overlay now- great... but I can still go back to the dashboard button on the top bar to get the shelf-type dialogue too? Particularly, the automatic behaviour is confusing. Why I am going back to the dashboard button. Well since clicking on the dashboard button brought up the full overlay, one would assume the reverse process would do the opposite.
From a UX design perspective it makes no sense. My preference is to make it a button. If you want the dashboard you click on it. If you want the dashboard to go away, you click on it again in the same position.
Much like in real life when I push a light switch to on the lights come on, then I push the same switch to turn it off. I don't walk across the room to another device to switch the light back off.
This same paradigm can be seen through the menu items. Please please get rid of this automatic behaviour. Automatic hover over menus are just annoying and don't save the user any time. Everyone knows how to click a button and this paradigm has been the norm for some time.
If you want to make the button more discoverable consider adding bubbles that appear when you hover over the button for first time users only.
In summary my points:
1. No automatic menus appearing
2. If you click a button to make it appear, clicking on it again should do the opposite.
3. Don't mix click-button behaviour with automatic menus
4. Make it more discoverable and allow this to be switched off.
Just my opinions. I would be happy to upload a screencast to demonstrate if it's helpful. What do other people think?
Andy.
I really can't get used to the pull out tray of the Dashboard. The dashboard button appears like a button inviting the user to click on it. It behaves like a button bringing up a full view of the dashboard as an overlay.
However, on hovering over it for 0.5 seconds the dashboard automatically pulls down a menu dialogue. We don't need this automatic behaviour- it's irritating and confusing!
So now it's a button and hover thing combined- argggghhh!
At the moment, I click the dashboard button, but suddenly the pull-down shelf type menu rolls down. Immediately, the screen jerks and the full dashboard overlay appears.
I can see the dashboard overlay now- great... but I can still go back to the dashboard button on the top bar to get the shelf-type dialogue too? Particularly, the automatic behaviour is confusing. Why I am going back to the dashboard button. Well since clicking on the dashboard button brought up the full overlay, one would assume the reverse process would do the opposite.
From a UX design perspective it makes no sense. My preference is to make it a button. If you want the dashboard you click on it. If you want the dashboard to go away, you click on it again in the same position.
Much like in real life when I push a light switch to on the lights come on, then I push the same switch to turn it off. I don't walk across the room to another device to switch the light back off.
This same paradigm can be seen through the menu items. Please please get rid of this automatic behaviour. Automatic hover over menus are just annoying and don't save the user any time. Everyone knows how to click a button and this paradigm has been the norm for some time.
If you want to make the button more discoverable consider adding bubbles that appear when you hover over the button for first time users only.
In summary my points:
1. No automatic menus appearing
2. If you click a button to make it appear, clicking on it again should do the opposite.
3. Don't mix click-button behaviour with automatic menus
4. Make it more discoverable and allow this to be switched off.
Just my opinions. I would be happy to upload a screencast to demonstrate if it's helpful. What do other people think?
Andy.
Its all abit bootstrap hover-happy for my liking.
Wonder how it plays in accessibility stakes.
INterestingly I showed the UI to some potential clients who were also looking at Joomla CMS. THey found C5 really challenging.
Right now I find its too hoveralicious - too much happens without clicking - this is a challenge to the older style UI's and user experience. Be really interesting to test with soem core task on a service like Loop11 to get some real data feedback into the loop. I ma sure Franz and co have done some testing.....
Wonder how it plays in accessibility stakes.
INterestingly I showed the UI to some potential clients who were also looking at Joomla CMS. THey found C5 really challenging.
Right now I find its too hoveralicious - too much happens without clicking - this is a challenge to the older style UI's and user experience. Be really interesting to test with soem core task on a service like Loop11 to get some real data feedback into the loop. I ma sure Franz and co have done some testing.....
We also have an alternative to this because I agree that this might be confusing to some people coming from previous versions:
http://www.concrete5.org/files/1813/3111/6249/traditional_dashboard...
This is available in the Traditional Dashboard add-on:
http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/addons/traditional-dashboard/...
Antti / Mainio
http://www.concrete5.org/files/1813/3111/6249/traditional_dashboard...
This is available in the Traditional Dashboard add-on:
http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/addons/traditional-dashboard/...
Antti / Mainio
Some developers may find this UI a bit much, but the inexperienced end-users (from my experience, anyway) tend to find it easy to understand.
Also, I believe the next version (5.5.2) will have some minor improvements to the UI. The next version is being released in April, I think.