WIP: 2019 Q3 UX Scorecard for Package: Research Specific Image
Find and Research Specific Image tag
After I create a tag of a new image, I want to be able to find data related to that specific image, so that I can confirm it was built as expected and update my code as necessary.
Checklist
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1. Document the current experience of the JTBD, as if you are the user. Capture the screens and jot down observations. Also, apply the following Emotional Grading Scale to document how a user likely feels at each step of the workflow. Add this documentation to the epic's description. -
2. Use the Grading Rubric below to provide an overall measurement that becomes the Benchmark Score for the experience, and add it to the epic's description. -
3. Once you’re clear about the user’s path, create a clickthrough video that walks through the experience and includes narration of the Emotional Grading Scale and Benchmark Score. -
4. Post your video to the GitLab Unfiltered YouTube channel, and link to it from the epic's description. -
5. If your JTBD spans more than one stage group, that’s great! Review your JTBD with a designer from that stage group for accuracy. -
6. Create an issue to revisit the same JTBD the following quarter to see if we have made improvements. We will use the grades to monitor progress toward improving the overall quality of our user experience.
Current Experience
D - Presentable
Overall Experience Score:Users can successfully navigate and find the specific image tag that they're looking for. However, it is a very manual and unrefined process.
Experience Breakdown
1. Initiate Build
As a built-in and automated part of my normal build process, new images are created via the Ci pipelines. One of the changes I made will impact an important image my team uses, so I would like to check after the pipeline is completed that my image is there as expected.
Emotional Grade: Positive
It's great that I don't have to manually generate the image and upload it to the registry.
Initiate build of a new image and push it |
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Observations
- Using the Ci Pipeline to create images and upload to the registry is natural to engineers
- No preview of how changes will impact packaging
- No notifications when new images are created
2. Navigate to the GitLab project
To find my recently created image, I need to navigate to the project connected to the image.
Emotional Grade: Neutral
As part of being a GitLab user, I am generally aware of what projects I am working on and can quickly find my project, mostly out of repetition. However, it may be worse for users that are building many images across many projects.
Navigate to my project |
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Observations
- Finding projects is a learned behavior (users have learned the quickest way to find their project, but through the gitlab.com home screen, through search, or through starred projects. Since the project I am working on is default sorted by a recent update, my project should be near the top
- Search can be cumbersome to users
- A group-level view of the container registry could be beneficial
- No information about packages or containers in the project level navigation
3. Navigate to the project's Container Registry
After I have found my project, I need to navigate to the container registry.
Emotional Grade: Neutral
Accessing my container registry is accomplished through second level navigation, but the hover eliminates a click.
Navigation to the project's Container Registry is part of the main nav |
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Observations
- The container registry is quick to get to via the main navigation.
- The main navigation phrase "packages" may be disjointed.
- Should we split up other types of package managers as we do with the container registry
- Should the Container Registry sit at the main navigation state (when compared to package managers?)
4. Open the image tag repository
Now that I have navigated to the GitLab Container Registry, I am presented with the different images available in this project's registry. I need to select the relevant image to see the details I need.
Emotional Grade: Negative
When I get to the project's container registry, the page is lacking details and context I would need to help me chose my image. The interaction is a little confusing as well
The Container Registry landing page |
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Observations
- The naming of images is not very clear (/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/gitlab/gitlab-ce-qa in the above example)
- The arrow/tree interaction isn't clear
- No data about the image is presented other than a path.
- If I have many images, there isn't a way to sort, filter, or search.
- The delete button is pretty obvious!
5. Find the specific image tag (version)
Once I pick which image I want to see the image repository for, I wait for a long while to see a table of image tags. I have to hunt for my image through the paginated list until I find the tag of the image I just generated.
Emotional Grade: Negative
The table of image tags is lacking sorting functionality and the native sort (by name) is not clear nor helpful.
The Expanded Image Tag Repository |
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Observations
- Unless my image tag naming convention happens to work by naming in reverse-alphabetical order, the current ordering doesn't work
- There isn't a way to sort the columns as you would expect from other parts of GitLab
- There is no detail level view of the image tag, but I can delete the tag via the UI
- There is no quick way to find the latest built image (a common use case)
- There is very little data shown that could be beneficial.
- The load time is unbearably large
5. Confirm the image was successfully built
Now that I have navigated to my newest image tag, I can confirm that it was built by the Ci/CD pipeline as expected.
Emotional Grade: Positive
It's awesome to know that the image that was supposed to be automatically built showed up!
Found Image tag |
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Observations
- The quick shortcut to copy the image's Tag is useful!
- The only action I can take with a package tag is to delete it
- The information provided only confirms Ci/CD built the image and added it to the registry. There are virtually no details about the image/tag itself.
- Users are getting confused around Container Registry terminology (i.e. 'repository' is used multiple times)
Recap:
Overall Experience | Initiate Build and Image Creation | Navigate to the Relevant Project | Navigate to the Container Registry | Identify the Correct Image | Find Relevant Image Tag |
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D (Presentable) |
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The experience of researching a specific image tag is do-able, but the experience is clunky and sub-optimal. Users are able to accomplish their goal, so it's currently at rank D (Presentable)
The good:
- New tags of images are successfully being built by the Ci/CD Pipeline, which the user can verify
- It is accepted by the user that an image seen in the registry is prepared to be used in the wild
What didn't go well:
- Interfaces were lacking in information that could help the user
- Current Container Registry page is lacking in clarity and action
- Searching, Sorting, and Filtering the Image's repository of tags is not possible, and the current display is not helpful