Reading/Web/Desktop Improvements/Feature sequence

This page outlines the features and changes we would like to address during the course of the desktop improvements project. We will be testing and iterating on each features idea so the designs you will see below are not final.

We will begin by building the setting which will allow users to turn the improvements on and off within user preferences. We will also provide an opt-out button on every page for easier control.

Learning plan/testing
We will look at the following questions through qualitative and quantitative testing:


 * Retention on all users (logged-out and logged-in). If not possible, just retention on logged-in users will be used as a proxy.


 * Duration of opt-in status (so we can see which features might have more effects than others)


 * Views to appearance tab in preferences


 * Average pageviews per day before/after opting in - by type of user/number of edits

Gadgets this change might affect

 * N/A (as it's just a preference)

We will build a new header which is somewhat smaller than the current version. This will allow us to later make the header sticky and to provide commonly-used functionality from any portion of the page (without needing to scroll up)

Learning plan/testing
We will look at the following questions through qualitative and quantitative testing:


 * How often do people click on the logo to get to the main page?
 * Is there a difference between logo interactions before and after the change

Gadgets this change might affect

 * TBD

We would like to give users the ability to collapse the sidebar. We believe this will lead to a cleaner reading and editing experience while continuing to give access to important functionality.

Learning plan/testing
We will look at the following questions through qualitative and quantitative testing:


 * Do people discover that it's collapsible?
 * Do people collapse it and leave it collapsed?
 * Is there any effects on account creation?

Gadgets this change might affect

 * TBD

Improved search pt 1: search widget move
We will move the search widget into the article header so that it can receive greater prominence

Language switching pt 1: moving language links to the article title bar
Currently, language links are found at the bottom of the sidebar for many wikis. We would like to give the language switcher a more prominent position within the interface in order to make language switching easier.

Learning plan/testing
We will look at the following questions through qualitative and quantitative testing:


 * Is the new language switcher easier to discover than the old version?
 * Does this change increase the amount of language switching?
 * How do these patterns vary by wiki and language?

Gadgets this change might affect

 * TBD

Sticky site and article headers
We would like to build a sticky header that will allow users to access important functionality (logging in/out, edit, talk pages, etc. ) without requiring people to scroll to the top of the page.

Learning plan/testing
We will look at the following questions through qualitative and quantitative testing:


 * With what frequency are the actions available within the header used?
 * Which are the most important links we can include within the sticky header?

Improved search pt 2: search widget improvements
We would like to improve search capabilities by allowing for type-ahead search across all pages. We would like for this version of search to also provide more interactive content, such as the page image of a page as well as a description of the page itself. In addition to these changes, we plan on placing the search bar in a more prominent location (potentially inside of the header).

Learning plan/testing
We will look at the following questions through qualitative and quantitative testing:


 * Does the new search treatment lead to an increase in completed search sections?


 * Do users find that a more prominent search bar creates a better experience?

User Menu
As a part of the project, we would like to consolidate related links into individual menus so that users can have all of links related to a user, article, or global navigation in intuitive places. We will begin this process by consolidating user-related links (user page, sandbox, preferences, beta, etc) into a single menu.

Learning plan/testing
We will look at the following questions through qualitative and quantitative testing:


 * Are these links easier or more difficult to find with the new interface?


 * Are people interacting with these links in a similar way? Is there any effect on pageviews?

Language switching pt. 2: one-click access to preferred languages
In addition to moving the language selector to the top of the page, we would also like to highlight the languages that a user is most likely to select. This will allow people to switch languages with a single click, without requiring them to open the menu itself

Learning plan/testing
We will look at the following questions through qualitative and quantitative testing:


 * What is the best number of languages to display outside of the menu?
 * Is there an increase in language switching when languages are more easily available?

Table of contents
Currently, the table of contents is only available at the top of the page, making it difficult to use while navigating throughout the article. We would like to make the table of contents always available while reading.

Learning plan/testing
We will look at the following questions through qualitative and quantitative testing:


 * Does this change make navigation throughout the article easier?


 * Do people use the table of contents more often once it's available everywhere?


 * What is the minimum length of article that requires an always-available table of contents?

Article tools
We would like to explore moving tools related to the article (such as what links here, related changes, as well as PDF and download tools) outside of the global navigation. We believe this change will lead to a more intuitive navigation by making clear the separation of navigation related to the site itself, and navigation related to the page that is being viewed

Learning plan/testing

 * Are article tools easier or more difficult to find in their new location


 * Is the usage of article tools affected by the change?


 * Do editors find the new location intuitive? Does it make their work easier?

General aesthetic refinements
Once we have all the changes in place, we would like to make some final styling changes to the site that pull the new look together and ensure all changes are consistent with our style guide

Learning plan/testing

 * Do readers and editors have a positive sentiment towards these changes?