[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #31336: Customizer: separate navigation from options UI for better UX by removing accordion behavior

[WordPress Trac]

#31336: Customizer: separate navigation from options UI for better UX by removing
accordion behavior
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 Reporter:  celloexpressions  |       Owner:
     Type:  enhancement       |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal            |   Milestone:  Future Release
Component:  Customize         |     Version:  4.0
 Severity:  normal            |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-patch         |     Focuses:  ui, administration
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Comment (by celloexpressions):

 I really think we should try to make this happen in 4.2 for the following
 reasons:
 - This has been in progress for 8 months now, so while the actual
 implementation/patch is new, we've been discussing this change since
 during 4.0 development (spread across several tickets, IRC, and Slack).
 - Many of the improvements in previous releases have built up to this.
 Most notably, the JS API introduced in 4.1 and removing direct dependence
 on `accordion.js` was a prerequisite to considering any changes here.
 - This type of a UX change can't really be tested for usability.
 Ultimately, the theory behind it and the actual feel of using it needs to
 drive changes. @folletto has done a great job developing the theory and
 explaining why there are fundamental problems with the original
 "accordion" UI. As @ryan said, this feels like a much better approach that
 solves a number of ongoing issues, complaints, and, potentially, general
 dislike of the Customizer. When it comes down to it, we're just going to
 need to pull the trigger and make the change.
 - These changes can't be implemented in a plugin or without a deeply
 involved core patch. But, they are all UI-level, so we don't risk breaking
 things too badly as long as we do the obvious things like accessibility
 (and this will actually improve accessibility in terms of color contrast
 and focus styles).
 - This complements the mobile improvements to the Customizer in 4.1; the
 Customizer is basically unusable on mobile with the accordion UI, even
 with our recent improvements.
 - This is closely related to the Customizer Theme Switcher project, which
 introduces a "backwards" panel with opposite sliding. Eliminating vertical
 sliding with accordions makes the new layer of hierarchy much clearer and
 more natural. It also helps inform some of the UI decisions we've been
 having trouble with in terms of the top-level section heading title/icon.

 Based on the amount of testing that the sorts of patches usually get for
 the Customizer, we're unlikely to catch most major issues that may exist
 until after a first-pass is committed even if we were to spend a lot of
 time testing ahead of time. Patches on this ticket are also likely to
 stale quickly due to their scale.

 Next steps would be to sort through some of the more detailed things that
 may get tweaked here and make design changes, as well as fixing anything
 functionally broken.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/31336#comment:10>
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