[Cross-posting to WLM mailing list]
Hi Phil & mobile team,
a few questions/comments from playing with the WLM app.
1) Filenames of uploaded files
Right now files appear to follow the following pattern:
[Name of monument] (taken on [timestamp in DDMMMYYYY HHhrsMMminsSSsecs]).jpeg
First question: Is there a reason we're using ".jpeg" instead of the
more common ".jpg" extension?
Second question: What are the motivations for the full timestamp in
the pattern? Is it primarily uniqueness? If so I would suggest
(re-)considering other approaches to achieve uniqueness (e.g.
obtaining a unique suffix like 001, 002). This pattern seems pretty
verbose; I do see some files with date-stamps in the name on Commons
(and it's encouraged per
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:File_naming ), but very few
that have the full timestamp.
2) Indicating to the user what needs to be done
As a user, I've found the indicators where my help is needed not
entirely obvious.
* The red place-marks vs. gray place-marks iconography - are we
explaining this anywhere in the UI? I was ultimately able to infer it,
but it might be nice to have this explained e.g. by having the icon
repeated in the detail view with a "Existing image" or "Photograph
needed" label.
* In list view, the gray boxes are gradually replaced with photographs
where they exist. Ultimately I end up with some remaining gray boxes,
which I can infer are cases where a photo is missing. But it seems
like we want to have a different icon in list view for "We don't have
a photo at all" vs. "We're still checking whether we have a photo".
Perhaps a spinner while it's checking?
3) Small UX confusion
* I have been repeatedly confused by the proximity of the "Back" arrow
to the "Map view / List view" selector. They look like they're a
single widget. I would suggest moving the "Map view" vs. "List view"
indicator to the right, detaching it from the "Back" arrow.
4) Analytics
Do we have any tracking at all for actions/errors within the app? It
would be nice to rig up at least basic tracking for API errors and
other issues during upload, so we know if lots of users are trying and
failing for some reason (e.g. aborting at the login step, experiencing
connection issues). Ori from the E3 team might be able to help rig
something up.
- - -
I think issue 2) could be a potential major factor that could
frustrate users. But this is just my feedback, so do with it what you
will.
That's it. I've encountered a couple bugs but want to spend a bit more
time in BZ to ensure I'm not reporting known stuff. The app overall is
coming together nicely and it's very slick (I especially like the
aggregation of monument counts at the lower zoom levels, the "Use my
current location" feature, and the integration of links to Wikipedia).
Congrats on the work so far and looking forward to launch.
Cheers,
Erik
--
Erik Möller
VP of Engineering and Product Development, Wikimedia Foundation
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