humancompanion-usds
commented
12 months ago Is this a bug or a feature request? Sounds like an implementation bug, rather than a bug with the Design System component. The component itself doesn't dictate how many steps you have or how to advance the current step based on user action. There is nothing stopping teams from advancing the step indicator how and when they see fit.
If this is a feature request, it's unclear to me what the request is. My opinion is that we need a step indicator can accommodate a variable number of steps as many larger forms add steps depending on branching logic using the information provided thus far in the form flow. Thus some larger forms can have many more than 13 steps, which is the max the v3 Progress bar - Segmented can support (and 10 is much more comfortable as a max). Therefore we need a vertically oriented progress bar that can expand and collapse rather than a horizontally oriented progress bar for more complex form flows. If that's what is being request then that's great, except that the Design System Team cannot provide that. Such a design would need to be contributed by a VFS team. Once such a design were proposed it could come to Design System Council and we could decide to test that design and go from there.
carly-yamrus
barron-charles
gopixelsgo
Describe the problem
The progress bar at the top of form pages is not indicative of true progress made when completing a form, for example when there are multiple pages within a step. This can cause confusion to users trying to advance to the next step when they’re not receiving that visual confirmation through the progress bar that they have successfully moved to the next screen.
Note: this is not an issue of counting steps possible for the component. The challenge lies in tracking the progress within the individual steps.
Who will benefit
Veterans, service members, or family members trying to fill out a form on VA.gov.
An updated progress bar would give users a more accurate time frame for progress through a form and better reflect how much is left for completion. Users should be able to clearly identify how much progress they’ve made in the form at any given step and should be able to identify additional sub-steps that may occur in variable situations. Language changes should also be considered to help users understand that there may be steps within steps that will lengthen or shorten the form.
Describe your idea
Consider usability testing to gain insight into how users are interacting with the progress bar, and how it may be hindering users' ability to quickly and accurately complete the form. Solutions may include changes to language, color, or placement of the progress bar, as well as the addition of sub-steps, or potentially implementation of a new type of component that does the above.
Provide evidence
Pre-Need Integration usability study 07/2023 - One participant noted that the progress bar doesn’t seem to move as they’re making their way through the form.
Users throughout the years have expressed confusion and frustration with the lack of visual confirmation and accuracy when moving through the form.
An a11y team study on short form 10EZ concluded that the progress bar interrupted screen reader users. There was confusion surrounding the language used and the belief that the continue button "doesn't work" because the progress bar did not advance when clicked.
A usability study conducted on the VA Form 28-8832 found users to struggle with the progress bar while using screen readers. Users felt that the form was longer than it actually is because of the indication of progress by step rather than volume or questions/pages. It was also found that the color implies the progress bar is interactive, when it is not.
Platform Mission
Other:
No response