Coga Suggested Edit: New section - "Common pitfalls"

[davidofyork]

Comment from COGA Task Force.

New section to come after 2. User need definition and before 3. Real-Time co-editing.

3. Common pitfalls

Collaborative tools often have unique interfaces and a lot of essential functions and processes. Users with learning and cognitive disabilities, including age related forgetfulness, may struggle to learn new interfaces and new proprietary design patterns. Reducing the requirement to learn new patterns, and follow complex process will help more users be able to use your application effectively.

User Need X: As a user with a language, processing, or memory impairment, I need the interface and language used to be clear and easy for me to understand. As a user with short and medium-term memory impairment and impaired executive function, I need a familiar interface so that I do not need to figure out and remember new interfaces. This may take a few weeks of repetition and I may not manage to learn it all if I have a condition affecting learning new things, such as dementia.

REQ X: Help users understand what things are and how to use them. Use things that are familiar to the user so that they do not have to learn new icons, symbols, terms, or design patterns. People with cognitive and learning disabilities often need common behavior and design patterns. For example, they may know the standard convention for links (underlined and blue for unvisited; purple for visited). This includes:

• Keep it simple. Keep process and workflow as simple as possible
• Have short critical paths with as few steps as possible, Do not require the user to open multiple tabs, windows or panels to complete a task as remembering and navigating though this content can disorientate the user.
• Use familiar terms, such as Save, Help, Copy. Avoid making the user need to learn new terms such as Mode or Fork.
• Do not make the user learn new terms or language for editing, such as a markdown, html or other syntax that they may not know. For example, provide an edit button and WYSIWYG (you see is what you get) HTML editor. Familiar icons, such as the help icon, with the word help.
• Use common design patterns when you can. Do not require a new way of thinking just to do something simple like create/edit/make available a simply formatted text document.
• When new processes are necessary, keep them as familiar to the user as possible. Always allow users to roll back to an older interface. This allows older users to continue being productive.

[davidofyork]

It was unclear to me, whether the user need and requirement were intended to go there, in the middle of this section. Having sought clarification, it seems this was the intention. I've tried to structure this as clearly as I can!

[davidofyork]

Comment from Lisa to clarify the above: "My key comment is we need a section on understandable interfaces, that incorporates most or all of Content Usable. Each user story etc. It needs to be understandable".

[JaninaSajka]

Comprehendable interfaces are already discussed in the document, beginning in the Abstract and continuing in the Introduction with further detail. In any case we would not replicate a different TF's publication in this document, especially not point by point. However, specific enhancements to further clarify these important concepts would be appreciated, especially as the task being performed may require different design patterns, e.g. a spread sheet is different from a word processing document. We do not regard an additional document section is necessary to cover this topic already addressed throughout the document.

[lseeman]

the bullet points are specific problems we have faced in this scope such as when using github. Please show us where each bullet point is included. To COGA it was not apparent where these points are included.

[davidofyork]

Feedback from COGA:

• COGA would like to see evidence of how the proposed content (the bullet points) has already been incorporated into CTAUR. How do these common pitfalls map to the current draft.
• COGA want to stress that the proposed content does not comprise generic suggestions, but rather specific problems that members have encountered in this scope (for example, the bullet point relating to familiar terms stems from difficulties faced when using GitHub).

As discussed in the minutes of the 2023-12-18 COGA meeting: https://www.w3.org/2023/12/18-coga-minutes.html