[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #39707: Create onboarding flowchart for users of WP.org installations

Wed Feb 15 07:20:14 UTC 2017

#39707: Create onboarding flowchart for users of WP.org installations
------------------------------+---------------------------------
 Reporter:  alwaysbrightblue  |       Owner:
     Type:  enhancement       |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal            |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Administration    |     Version:  4.7.1
 Severity:  normal            |  Resolution:
 Keywords:                    |     Focuses:  ui, administration
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Comment (by alwaysbrightblue):

 Since my last post here a new Editor prototype has come out. This new
 editor has brought up a lot of use case tests, which are documented in
 [https://make.wordpress.org/design/2017/02/09/initial-gutenberg-prototype-
 editor-testing/ the post introducing the new editor] on Make. The day this
 Editor came out was the day of our monthly Wordpress MeetUp, and I lead a
 discussion about this as it relates to onboarding. The most significant
 takeaway: Personas.

 Personas are [https://uxmag.com/articles/personas-the-foundation-of-a
 -great-user-experience defined] as “represents a cluster of users who
 exhibit similar behavioral patterns in their purchasing decisions, use of
 technology or products, customer service preferences, lifestyle choices,
 and the like. Behaviors, attitudes, and motivations are common to a "type"
 regardless of age, gender, education, and other typical demographics. In
 fact, personas vastly span demographics.” We already somewhat acknowledge
 personas in the User’s Panel with Subscribers, Authors, Contributors,
 Editors, and Admins. Each has their set of permissions which change the
 options for control within the dashboard. But, currently, because
 onboarding is defined as starting after a successful install, the first
 step of onboarding is either a default theme on the front end or the
 current Admin user dashboard. Therefore, all users are treated as an
 Admin.

 Different personas want different experiences. An Admin level persona
 could be an experienced developer who wants to continue to use the
 existing dashboard interface.
 [https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/39617 Luke Cavanaugh’s ticket] is
 focused on this current dashboard design and is beginning a good change
 for a better UX for setting calls-to-action. Specifically, at our meet up,
 the existing dashboard was described (and agreed upon unanimously) that it
 is not a good place for personas who are not already at an Admin level. If
 we only consider the existing Wordpress users, we are already too
 overwhelming for ⅘ of potential users.

 “Choice” became the focus. For Themes and Plugins, there are thousands
 (millions?) of choices. It’s overwhelming. We discussed onboarding
 processes of GoDaddy, Genesis Framework, and the WooCommerce Wizard and
 how these seem to help, but are still too overwhelming for certain users.
 Prebuilt themes are easy to setup but come with so many options that it
 can inhibit setup (not to mention inhibit performance on the site). Even
 the difference between “Page” and “Post” can be inhibiting the progress of
 a new user.

 But we did have the new Editor ([https://wordpress.github.io/gutenberg/
 Gutenberg] and [https://iseulde.github.io/editor-blocks/ iseulde Editor
 Blocks]), and it got us thinking, “'''what if this is the first thing we
 see?'''” It is more intuitive because we are seeing the CSS in action on
 the page and starting to “build” a website because “Seeing is believing.”
 “Page” and “Post” are irrelevant here, and it’s a welcome change. We are
 no longer distracted by choices. This week, some other user testing
 sessions occurred: [https://www.ephox.com/blog/wordpress-editor-user-
 tests-9feb2017/ @annaharrison],
 [https://make.wordpress.org/design/2017/02/09/initial-gutenberg-prototype-
 editor-testing/ the entire thread releasing Gutenberg prototype]. These
 are showing similar experiences.

 We thought about custom ways to different onboard personas, and it was
 then raised, “Should personas be linear?” We should think about focusing
 on the task to be accomplished by the user. Some overlap is ok. Think
 about setting up custom roles with the
 [https://wordpress.org/plugins/members/ Members plugin] and how those
 permissions are specifically meant to allow a user to accomplish their
 task. For the sake of simplicity, let’s use existing persona categories as
 a basis to set up an onboarding walk through. The task could be to create
 questions that establish user tasks and needs to set the permissions a
 user may see initially. There will always be an “under the hood” area to
 add permissions, get to settings, probably within Customizer, but we’re
 not there yet.

 To continue progress and not get lost in the weeds, I will work on some
 onboarding flows for the existing personas of Wordpress: Subscribers,
 Authors, Contributors, Editors, and Admins. I would welcome others to also
 help in this process.

 '''Resources'''
 [https://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/personas.html
 Usability.gov]
 [https://uxmag.com/articles/personas-the-foundation-of-a-great-user-
 experience UXMag.com: Personas: The Foundation of a Great User Experience]

 '''Editor Blocks'''
 https://iseulde.github.io/editor-blocks/
 https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg

 Onboarding
 https://www.useronboard.com/onboarding-teardowns/

 UX Archive
 http://uxarchive.com/tasks/onboarding

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/39707#comment:10>
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