Topic on Talk:Talk pages project/Usability/Prototype

1. Did you use mobile device or a laptop to test the prototype?

   Desktop.

2. What did you find unexpected about the prototype?

   Icons looked a bit out of place. I mean the look&feel wasn't really wiki.

3. Which steps in the "Try the Prototype" section did you find difficult to complete?

   While searching for latests I actually used CTRL+F.

   Icons are good for scanning through topics, but would be more usefully to have some summary in the ToC.

4. What do you like about the prototype?

   I like the summary part of each section. Looks great. I wonder if it would work if I wouldn't sign my name... And it doesn't. I guess that is OK.

5. What do you wish was different about the prototype?

   Some summary in the ToC.

   Also that over-line (above header) is weird. Doesn't fit into wiki.

   Reply icons are kind of weird for wiki too... But I guess I would adjust.

6. (Optional) Can you imagine this design not working on some pages? If you can, please share links to these pages? It would be very helpful.

   Yeah. I've kind of broke your test page by adding a few sections in one go: ... I admit this is weird, but could be true for pages with more then one vote.

hi @Nux – I appreciate you trying the prototype and documenting what you thought about it. Some responses below...

Icons looked a bit out of place. I mean the look&feel wasn't really wiki.

We came to agree with the observation you made here. We have now removed the icons that had previously appeared beneath each section title heading.

If you have a moment, I'd value hearing what you think of the new design which you can see here: Talk:Talk pages project/Usability.

Icons are good for scanning through topics, but would be more usefully to have some summary in the ToC.

Can you say more about the kind of "summary" you would find useful? What information might that summary include?

So you're aware, we've updated the design of the Table of Contents so that it's easier to read and explicitly says the number of comments in each discussion: Talk pages table of contents design (8 July 2022).

I like the summary part of each section. Looks great. I wonder if it would work if I wouldn't sign my name... And it doesn't. I guess that is OK.

As you discovered, the summary part of each section will not update unless the comment you post is signed.

You raising this here led me to think, "We should share why the summary section works in this way..."

Also that over-line (above header) is weird. Doesn't fit into wiki.

I appreciate the line that appears between sections is a change. If you can imagine ways in which the line could interfere with how you use talk pages, I'd value knowing.

Reply icons are kind of weird for wiki too... But I guess I would adjust.

We hear you. In fact, in the latest design we have removed the icons that appear before the "Reply" links

Yeah. I've kind of broke your test page by adding a few sections in one go: ... I admit this is weird, but could be true for pages with more then one vote.

By "broken" are you referring to the fact that the summary information does not appear beneath/within the Here is a longer vote section?

If what I've described is what you meant, then this is by design. Sections that do not contain any signed comments will not include any summary information. Notice how after posting this comment the summary information appears beneath the aaaałaaaa aaaa section heading.

Thanks for your replay :).

That summary in ToC would be more useful if there would be some indication of which topic(s) were last modified. Not sure if you can easily fit that in the ToC (so not to clog it too much), but maybe just number of days since last comment...

As for the broken page, I guess that is understandable that it is hard. But then again there are reply buttons e.g. in "aaaa" section, so if you have replies I think you should have a summary. BTW. this was an anonymized, but real vote page in case you were wondering... Anyway, maybe you should add an option to force summary like when we can force ToC for some pages were generic rules don't work. As an example note that this discussion section has a subscription, but (on different vote page) there is no subscription on this section. Both sections are for users discussing stuff, adding signed comments/replies.

Nux, would you please look at https://patchdemo.wmflabs.org/wikis/6c2b1c9b3e/wiki/Talk:New_York ? The swooshy arrow icons are gone. ;-)