Discuss updated validation requirements for navigation proposals
The purpose of this issue is to discuss different paths to approval for navigation requests and the potential scenarios where they might apply.
Background
Since introducing the navigation proposal process the Foundations team has engaged with roughly 25 different requests to change the navigation. We’ve learned that there is a lot of variety to these requests, but our current requirements describe a one-size-fits-all approach to validation and approval that is too rigid in many cases. Internally, we already apply varying criteria across different navigation proposals, but it’s determined on a case-by-case basis without clear documentation.
Goals
We've collected a lot of feedback on the current process, however this issue is focused explicitly on the following goals:
- Maintain the SUS for the GitLab navigation side bar
- Ensure teams are doing due diligence when changing the navigation
- Allow for reasonable judgement and flexibility in the process
- Reduce the burden on groupfoundations to provide a high-level of UX support for every request
Proposed changes
We're suggesting that we deprecate the current validation and approval process in favor of two different paths. The Full Validation path is most similar to the current process and the Limited Validation path is mostly new.
Current process | Full Validation | Limited Validation |
---|---|---|
All proposals must include a business case that identifies the underlying problem and goals of changing the navigation. | All proposals must include a business case that identifies the underlying problem and goals of changing the navigation. | All proposals must include a business case that identifies the underlying problem and goals of changing the navigation. |
Problem validation research is required to discover and verify the areas of opportunity for our navigation. | Problem validation research is required to discover and verify the areas of opportunity for our navigation. | User research is not required to identify the area of opportunity for our navigation. |
Solution validation research is conducted to evaluate a navigation change against other potential solutions. | Solution validation research is conducted to evaluate a navigation change against other potential solutions. | Proposals need to describe or visualize alternative solution(s) that surface changes at other points of the user journey. Then critically assess how well the proposed and alternative solutions address the problems and goals outlined in the business case. |
A UX review has been conducted with the design DRIs for the related stage group. | A UX review has been conducted with the design DRIs for the related stage group. | |
The proposal is supported by product, design, and research counterparts for the related stage group. | The proposal is supported by product and design counterparts for the related stage group. |
Key Changes
- User research is not required for navigation changes that require limited validation.
- Both paths require a UX review of the proposed changes with the designer for the relevant group.
- Both paths require stable counterparts to support the proposed changes.
Questions
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Does this division of "limited vs full" validation make sense? Are there other approaches we should consider? - Decision: Yep, this makes sense. There's a secret "no validation" option in cases of executive override, but we don't want to document this.
- Comment thread
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How do we decide which validation path a navigation proposal needs to follow? Do you have examples of navigations changes that are a good for for the limited or full validation path? - Decision: The Foundations DRI will decide based on two factors: how many users are impacted by the change, and whether the change is following existing patterns vs introducing something new.
- Comment thread
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What is the question we're asking teams to answer with either research or critical assessment? - Decision: We want teams to demonstrate that their change positively impacts one of our main JTBD
- Comment thread