[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #61040: Provide a framework for plugin onboarding experiences

[WordPress Trac]

#61040: Provide a framework for plugin onboarding experiences
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 Reporter:  jorbin       |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement  |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal       |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Plugins      |     Version:
 Severity:  normal       |  Resolution:
 Keywords:               |     Focuses:  administration
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Comment (by kevinwhoffman):

 Replying to [comment:36 richtabor]:

 >Do we ''know'' that redirects are a problem? Is it more, or less, of a
 problem that we’ve introduced now, essentially hiding a plugin’s
 configuration view?

 @richtabor isn't the first to ask how we ''know'' redirects are a problem.
 @alanfuller previously questioned how we can make an assumption about user
 expectations without real user feedback or extensive research. Both are
 fair questions.

 While any proposed solution should be tested for usability, we ought to at
 least be able to agree that the inconsistency and unpredictability of the
 post-activation redirect behavior are problematic—not based on opinion,
 but on established usability heuristics that have been guiding software
 development for decades.

 **Consistency and Standards**

 In [https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/ Nielsen's
 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design], the fourth heuristic
 [https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/#toc-4
 -consistency-and-standards-4 Consistency and Standards] addresses the
 importance of internal and external consistency.

 This [https://www.nngroup.com/articles/consistency-and-standards/#toc-a
 -continuum-of-consistency-1 continuum of consistency] can be summarized as
 follows:

 > To be easy to learn and use, systems should adhere to both internal and
 external consistency — they should use the same patterns everywhere inside
 the system and should also follow web-, platform-, and domain-specific
 conventions.

 **Internal Consistency**

 On internal consistency, there is a clear-cut problem. We have an
 "Activate" button in WordPress core that looks the same, has the same
 label, and appears in the same location within the plugin card component,
 but it behaves differently from one plugin to the next.

 In Usability Heuristic 4, it is recommended that:

 > Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or
 actions mean the same thing.

 Along those lines, I'd argue the following should also be true:

 > Users should not have to wonder whether **the same** words, situations,
 or actions mean **different things**."

 Unfortunately when activating plugins today, WordPress users are left
 wondering whether the same button means something different from one
 plugin to the next.

 **A Usability Test (Not) Worth Doing**

 Here's a usability test we ''could'' do with the existing UX on the Add
 Plugins screen: Ask new users to install the
 [https://wordpress.org/plugins/browse/popular/ top 12 most popular
 plugins]. Before clicking "Activate," ask them whether they expect the
 action to simply put the plugin into an active state or redirect to an
 onboarding page on the next page load. You can try this yourself by
 installing the first 12 plugins from the "Popular" tab.

 Spoilers: 5 of the 12 most popular plugins perform a redirect on the first
 page load after activation:

 1. ✅ Elementor - Redirect
 2. 🚫 Contact Form 7 - No redirect
 3. ✅ Yoast SEO - Redirect
 4. 🚫 Classic Editor - No redirect
 5. ✅ WooCommerce - Redirect
 6. 🚫 Akisment - No Redirect
 7. ✅ WPForms - Redirect
 8. 🚫 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup - No redirect
 9. 🚫 LiteSpeed Cache - No redirect
 10. ✅ Really Simple SSL - Redirect
 11. 🚫 Wordfence - No redirect
 12. 🚫 Jetpack - No redirect

 For extra fun, activate all 12 and then refresh. Did you guess which
 plugin won the battle of redirects?

 Since there is no difference in presentation from one plugin's "Activate"
 button to the next, there is nothing to distinguish the control group from
 the experimental group. I'd argue that it doesn't even matter whether most
 users predict the redirect behavior correctly or not. The fact that the
 behavior is inconsistent and unpredictable should be enough for us to
 agree that redirects are problematic.

 While the recent changes to AJAX plugin activation made redirects ''more''
 problematic due to the delay between activation and refresh, the
 inconsistency and unpredictability have always been there since plugins
 started adopting the pattern.

 **External Consistency**

 On external consistency, I feel there is more room for debate depending on
 how users mentally map WordPress's Install/Activate convention to their
 experience with other app stores' Get/Open conventions.

 - Some have argued that "Activate" is analogous to "Open" and therefore it
 should launch an onboarding flow just like opening a new app would do.
 - Others have argued that "Activate" is more analogous to "Get" and
 therefore it should only put the plugin into an active state just like
 getting an iPhone or Mac app puts it into an active state ''without
 opening it''.

 I agree user feedback is very important here to prevent the opinion of a
 few from dictating the behavior for all.

 **In Summary**

 While the question of internal consistency reveals a clear violation of
 established usability heuristics, the question of external consistency is
 more open to interpretation and, yes, opinion. While we should seek user
 feedback to clarify our position on external consistency and eventually
 the solution, I hope that the above clearly demonstrates why the redirects
 are problematic in the first place without requiring extensive research.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/61040#comment:37>
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