Wikidata:Usability and usefulness/Feedback round 17-12 Term box Behavior

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Goal[edit]

We are currently reworking the term box which hosts the display of labels, descriptions and aliases for different languages. We want to improve the input and display of labels, descriptions and aliases for different languages. Users should have the possibility to add not yet entered languages as well as selecting single languages to show.

The proposed solution[edit]

This low level prototype (a so called click dummy) shows a possible solution to the above goal. We slightly restructured the term box by giving the opportunity to enter new languages. Users should also have the possibility to add single languages which are not shown instantly (because of the babel box settings for example).

This is a screenshot of the basic layout:

Screenshot of the UI changes for the Term box of Wikidata items

Prototype[edit]

To figure out if the structure works for a lot of users, we like to ask you to follow the scenario described below and be very observant of what works and what does not work for you. Feel free to write down your observations on the talk page. We will collect the answers until January 11th.

Before you start the test, we recommend to open a text document or a new section on the talk page, so you can easily write down the thoughts you have during the test. Please be honest and do not correct your notes. If you figure out something later-on which has been confusing to you in the beginning, write it down separately because this is very valuable information for us. With each step you can think of three questions:

  • How do you expect it to work?
  • How did you end up doing it?
  • Did anything good or bad happen?

As a reminder we put these questions in a disclaimer box on top of the prototype.

You will find the link to the prototype here.

Please be aware, that this is no real website, but just a low complex prototype. This means the only real interactive elements are highlighted with green outlines. This includes the languages "Spanish", "Russian", the "edit", "save" and "cancel" buttons, as well as the drop down menu "Other Languages" (here it is also just "All entered Languages", "Spanish" and "Russian" which is clickable).

Scenario[edit]

We would like you to play out the use cases described below, and appreciate your feedback on that.

  1. You want to check if "Russian" is already entered as a language with a label, description, etc.
  2. You want to add "Spanish" to the list.
  3. You want to enter a new language which is not on the list yet.

For the rest of the test, feel free to play around with the possibility to show all entered languages, and check or uncheck languages.

  • What is your opinion on the interactions?
  • Did anything good or bad happen?


Additional question: How would you expect the language entering/selection in the input field itself to work? If you add a language to the list, would you expect it to remain in the short list of languages also for future items?

Thank you very much for your participation! We are looking forward to your insights and to further improve the term box.

Summary of the Feedback round and prospect[edit]

A big “thank you“ to everyone who tested the prototype and gave feedback. We gained great insights, not just on the termbox but also on the way we asked for your feedback.

It was nice to see that the simple solution of adding a language in editing mode was well received. Besides the input of monolingual strings, the possibility of language codes was mentioned and will be implemented for sure. The combo box/drop down menu will (most likely) get auto suggestions as it is known from other input fields in Wikidata already. The feedback mostly tackled the issue of the checkboxes/pin solution which didn’t come clear regarding its behaviour. To explain a little further: Our idea was to give an opportunity to keep a list of languages through several items, even if they are not part of the usual setup (babel box or geolocated if not logged in). This behaviour seems to be an edge case. Further the solution as of now did not work, so we will do more research and propose different options to find a satisfactory solution.

We would very much like to get deeper insights from people interested in this task. This is usually hard to achieve on wiki, which is why I would like to ask for remote interviews. If somebody is interested this would be highly appreciated. We would organize everything (if wished for anonymously) and would publish the outcome afterwards for transparent processes. Feel free to contact me on my talk page, via email or sign up on the talk page of Wikidata:Usability and usefulness. Thank you very much!