Data Inbox. Research and Wireframes. November 2016

Transcription

1 Client: Climate Project Manager: Michael Droz Data Inbox Research and Wireframes November 2016 Designers: Ann Abraham, Nathan Visconti The Data Inbox is Climate FieldView's latest field setup tool. Farmers can import existing data and boundaries, map fields, make edits, detect overlaps and duplicates, and keep a consistent format with other farm management information systems. The redesign of the Data Inbox project, will aim to improve the user experience of the application. The following features have been requested to be improved: Requirements: - Restrict Access to Data Inbox - Add Operation Label to Data Inbox - Improve In-Feature Messaging - Expose File Translation Failures Restrict Access to Data Inbox Current Implementation: When importing and collaborating data with various users, there are three levels of sharing access: farm, field, and operation level. An error modal will appear when a user of restricted access attempts to perform an action. Final Solution: We want to make more apparent the level of access a user has to a particular operation. This can be done by the usage of modals to bring the user's immediate attention to their privileges.

2 Upon clicking "Add a Field", a check on the user's rights will be made. If the user has operation level access, no modal will appear, and the user may continue with adding and editing fields. If the user has farm or field level access, or if they are currently viewing All Operations, a modal will prompt the user to select a valid operation from a dropdown list of Operations provided within the modal. - All Operations: Please choose a valid operation. - Farm/Field Level: You do not have rights to this operation. Please choose an operation that you have access to.

3 Solution 2: The current implementation denotes reactive design, where the user is presented all the features he or she may not be able to access. Instead, we can produce a more proactive approach, where the user will not be able to click on features (as they will be disabled) that he or she cannot act upon. This will eliminate several steps in the process, such as the modal prompt. Add Operation Label to Data Inbox

4 With various operations that a user can be a part of, it is important to provide a clear indication as to what inbox the user is currently in. Current Implementation: The operation name is located in the top right-hand corner of the Climate FieldView dashboard. However, it is hidden when a user clicks on the Data Inbox/Import button. Solution: This can be solved by incorporating the title of the operation in the center of the inbox modal. Incorporating the title into the center of the modal helps bring it to the user's attention at all times. Doing so will help decrease the chances of a user accidentally importing data into the wrong inbox. Additionally, the placement of the Data Inbox modal can be placed lower and the black overlay behind can be decreased so that the user can see the navigation at all times. Sharing Visibility When operations are shared, it is important for users to be aware of the actions they perform. This will decrease the chances of users importing data into the wrong operation, or being more cautious when they know that they are currently in a shared operation. Solution: When a user is viewing a shared operation, the background status bar across the Data Inbox modal can be a good indicator along with labeling Shared Account in the inbox title. Similar to when a user utilizes live screenshare on a browser, or Google maps, this top horizontal bar can bring attention to the user at all times without using excessive amounts of modals.

5 Additionally, we can add text at the bottom of the data fields table to denote how many people the operation is shared with. This can bring more visibility as to how much collaboration is involved in a given operation. Final Solution: We will add a - Shared Account underneath the Data Inbox label at the top header.

6 Improved in-feature messaging Throughout the application, several helpful messages could be incorporated to guide the user through the data importing process. Current Implementation: If there are no data entries upon clicking Data Inbox, the content will display, "There's no data to import." Solution: Instead of the brief statement, we can utilize the real estate with a relevant graphic along with helpful steps to ensure the user is not stuck. We can also include a link that will open up a new browser window showing compatibility matrices of supported file types.

7

8 Additionally, we can remove buttons unrelated to the current view, such as the Edit and Delete buttons as well as the columns and filters associated when data is imported. This will provide a cleaner look and draw more attention to the helpful message. We can also direct the user to the first tab (Field, Soil, Planting or Harvest) that does have data to import.

9 User Uploads

10 Providing seamless and easy-to-understand communication to the user throughout the uploading process is essential to avoid confusion and uncertainty of where their data is going.

11 Current implementation: Toast messages will appear at the top of the Data Inbox modal after the user uploads a file - Preparing file for upload: Navigating away from the page will cancel your upload - Uploading 1 file. Navigating away from this page will cancel your upload. x% uploaded - Your upload is processing - An error occurred while checking your upload status. Please check back later. Solution: As toast messages are a lightweight approach to communicate incoming information, it may not be the best UI component to use in terms of displaying file upload progress. This is because it is not clear what all the user should be doing while files are being uploaded. (Can they upload more files? Can they edit, delete, or import existing files in the table shown?) A safer option would be to treat the uploaded files as a foreground activity, providing updates of the uploading process and disabling all other functionality.

12

13 Additionally, if the status of the upload cannot be returned, we can provide more information to the user and bring it into a modal window:

14 Expose File Translation Failures Properly communicating to the user when a file fails to upload is essential as it can help guide the user to understand the problem and ultimately minimize the number of requests sent to the support team.

15 Solution: Add an extra view specifically for files that failed to upload. This can help organize the issues by separating those that are not displayed in the table. They can click to Learn More about the files that did not upload, and still go back to the original table. The table can display inline error and warning indicators which link to popovers that provide additional help and troubleshooting. Upload Overview: List view of failed uploads:

16 In-line editing view:

17 Use Cases: User attempts to import files that have errors & warnings - Display modal: You are not able to import files that have errors. User attempts to import files that have errors - Display modal: You are not able to import files that have errors. User attempts to import files that have warnings - Display modal: Are you sure you want to import files with warnings? User attempts to import files with no errors or warnings - Continue with action Prompt Modal:

18

19 Solution 3: Create a modal window that shows every file recently uploaded with their status of success, warning, or any errors. This would help section off just the files that the user selected while providing feedback on each. Dynamic refreshing would be implemented to load the successful files into the existing file table. Pros Cons - Details of every file upload - Less focus on file summary - Requires data synchronization with file table