[2019Q2] Experience recommendations - Understanding dependencies
Recommendations for addressing pain points in #449 (closed)
Checklist
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Brainstorm opportunities to fix or improve areas of the experience explored in #449 (closed) -
Use the findings from the Emotional Grading scale to determine areas of immediate focus. For example, if parts of the experience received a “Negative” Emotional Grade, consider addressing those first. -
Create an issue for each recommendation and link them to the corresponding JTBD recommendations issue. Think iteratively, and create dependencies where appropriate, remembering that sometimes the order of what we release is just as important as what we release. -
If you need to break recommendations into phases or over multiple milestones, create multiple epics and use the Category Maturity Definitions in the title of each epic: Minimal, Viable, Complete, or Lovable.
Recommendations
✅ Add option to create new issues directly from the epic page (Complete)
Creating an issue is currently possible from a few places within the UI- the top navigation (but only if you're currently viewing a project), from within another issue, or from the issues list page. We only allow attaching existing issues to epics (by pasting in a URL) which means the user needs to have multiple tabs open at once. Forcing a user to have multiple tabs open to complete a basic task is disjointed and creates a negative feeling when using the product.
Issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/5419
✅ Add option to create child epics directly from the epic page (Complete)
Same examples as the above; this feature has actually been implemented, but it's still behind a feature flag with the epic tree
Issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/7331
Add option to add an issue to an epic directly from the issue creation page
Our existing new issue form is fine, but it would be nice if you could search and add a parent epic directly from the form while you're filling it out, instead of retroactively going back and adding it from the completed issue or epic.
Issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/13847
✅ Add epic dropdown in issue sidebar so that users can select a parent epic directly from an issue (Complete)
Most of our issue sidebar components are editable, but the epic component is currently read-only, leading to more frustration from users attempting to organize epics. Adding a dropdown to search or paste in a URL (since this is the existing pattern for attaching issues to epics) would mean that the user doesn't need to leave the issue page in order to attach that issue to an epic.
Note: You can currently add a parent epic by using quick actions, but few users know about this
Issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/6878
Related issues
in some way to show blocking or dependent issues
Consider extending If issues are dependent on one another, we currently have no way of illustrating that. We have a widget on the issues page to show Related issues
but maybe we could extend that in some way to add Blocking issues
.
Issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/2035
✅ Show all descendants of epics directly from a single epic page (Complete)
At the moment we show just one level of descendants of an epic. This can include both sub-epics and issues. Not knowing how many issues or epics that comprise a single epic can make planning and scheduling more difficult. If we were able to show a list of all descendants, and the relationship between them, users would get a far better idea of their progress.
Issues:
- https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/10795
- https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/9367
- https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/13633
Combine ancestor with descendant tree
We currently have the ancestors of an epic in the sidebar, while the descendants are on the main page. This can lead to a slightly confusing experience; the two groups seem unconnected. We should figure out a way to combine the two in one list to show a more comprehensive view of an entire epic structure.
Issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/10653
Work with issues and epics within a current epic
Users have to open a lot of tabs or visit a lot of pages to work with epics and issues within GitLab. If you're on an epic and want to see one of its issues, you have to go to a new page. This results in either a lot of open tabs, or a lot of hitting the back button. Either way, the context switching isn't a smooth experience. It would be useful to see an entire issue or child epic directly within an epic page. For example, a slide-out drawer when you click on an issue in the tree view (this could also apply to issue boards).
Issue: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ee/issues/13319
Related epic: &383 (closed)