Description
Your use case
As discussed with Danielle, here is some feedback on the usability of the new left panel UX based on my needs (spoiler: very similar to the EX ones). In short there are 2 failure modes: important information gets lost and quick navigation is lost.
Mentions
They get lost in the list.
What would you like to do?
- Not miss a new mention (even if there are older ones and even if I received them a while back)
- Navigate quickly to mentions
Why would you like to do it?
Because mentions are important and need my attention
How would you like to achieve it?
I see different options:
- Being able to pin mentions to the top would partially solve it. Partially because if there are too many then I won't be able to see the rest of the list
- Having a “Mentions” filter which tells me when there are new mentions could solve it. But it would need to display an increment as otherwise if there is an existing mention and a new one comes in I won't know
- Having a collapsible section like in the old left panel would be good: I could determine how many mentions I want to see on the screen (and they won't overtake the full list)
Maybe option 2 would be best
Favourites and DMs
They get lost in the list. I can only find them by proactively filtering on them.
What would you like to do?
- Immediately see when I get a message/have unread rooms in one of these 2 categories (even if I received it a while back)
- Immediately see if these rooms are active
Why would you like to do it?
Because these rooms are important and need to stand out .
The previous UX of sections allowed me to keep an eye on the top of the People and Favourite lists so I would know immediately and not forget which rooms has unread and were active in this section.
How would you like to achieve it?
Having an 'unread' status on the Favourite and People filters which tells me when there are new unread rooms would help it. But it would need to display an increment as otherwise if there is an existing unread room and a new one comes in I won't know
Invites
They get lost in the list and I can't even filter to see if I have any.
The new icon is obscure/not explicit and not prominent enough. I also get spam invites which then pollute my list so it needs to be taken into account.
What would you like to do?
- Not miss a new invite (even if there are older ones)
- Navigate quickly to invites
Why would you like to do it?
Because invites are important and need my attention
How would you like to achieve it?
I see different options:
- Being able to pin invites to the top would partially solve it. Partially because if there are too many then I won't be able to see the rest of the list. (and I have many invites which are stuck and I can't ignore so this is a very realistic risk).
- Having an “invites” filter which tells me when there are new invites could solve it. But it would need to display an increment as otherwise if there is an existing invite and a new one comes in I won't know
- Having a collapsible section like in the old left panel would be good: I could determine how many invites I want to see on the screen (and they won't overtake the full list)
An invite filter is a bare minimum requirement though.
Breadcrumbs
What would you like to do?
Quickly access the last few rooms I was active in
Why would you like to do it?
Because I usually participate into several conversations at once and/or share data across rooms
How would you like to achieve it?
I like the previous UX, the extra typing of Alt+K is too long (esp with ED taking 5s to display the search window), even if I like being able to navigate to the very first room via the keyboard immediately.
Have you considered any alternatives?
No response
Additional context
No response