UI/Reviews

Not logged in - Log In / Register

Revision 5 as of 2009-08-05 17:59:10

Clear message

These guidelines are to help all of us make UI reviews as straight-forward as possible.

For a detailed process for UI changes (link to Curtis' suggestion... can't find it on the wiki yet.)

Starting your UI branch

10 questions to ask yourself before starting a branch

  1. Is there any other page in Launchpad that does something similar?
  2. Will this add any value to users?
  3. Will this make it harder for other users to complete tasks?
  4. Can you describe the change in characters (ie "tweet" it)?
  5. Are there any other pages that should change their behavior/look with this change? 6... 7... 8... 9... 10...

What is this page trying to tell me

Although it may be out of the scope of the current branch that you are working on, it is always worthwhile getting the big-picture... and there might be small improvements outside the scope of your bug that will make a huge difference to the user experience. (Maris' to add notes)

Submitting your branch for review

10 questions to ask yourself before submitting

  1. What value does this add to users?
  2. Will this make it harder to complete any tasks?
  3. Will this make it easier to complete any tasks?
  4. Does this behave differently than other pages in Launchpad?
  5. Does completing the task require prior knowledge? Is that knowledge available as help?
  6. How many more knobs and buttons have I added?
  7. Is it easy to explain?
  8. What can I do to make it explaining it easier, or even unnecessary?
  9. Is it fun to use? 10...

Create a screenshot or screencast

The UI review process will be much faster if the reviewer can view your change without having to merge and run your branch. Sometimes this can be as simple as attaching screenshots to the bug (this also allows other interested people to comment).

If your UI change involves a behaviour, consider creating a brief screen-cast using gtkRecordMyDesktop and attaching it to the bug. Again, this will again help the reviewer and other interested people from commenting without having to merge your branch.

Tips for reviewers

  1. Don't read the merge proposal. Branch, fire up the page(s) that where changed, and write down your initial impressions. Sometimes a change causes other parts of the page to look out of place, so knowing what to look at may make you miss that.

  2. Make mistakes. When going through a work flow, make as many mistakes on purpose. This will help you feel what a frustration scenario would look like.