Translation UX/Design feedback 3

The goal of this feedback round was to test:

The full page prototype.
The current implementation of the ULS.

Test Observations

Test with User #40 on 20 Nov

The user was capable of speaking Tamil, French, Hindi and German but only participates as a French translator.

Network problems forced the recording to be made in two sessions that correspond to 1st and 2nd test.

Test 1: Full-page prototype

01:23 - The user understands the overall structure of the UI and finds out how to edit lacking translations, but expected some input support for Hindi (asks: "is this transliteration?").
5:39 - The user looks for parts of the document lacking a translation, and seems comfortable comparing original and translated paragraphs. Does not notice the progress bar at 100% as an indicator of the translation being complete.
7:50 - The user actives proofreading mode and understands the options that are given to him for each section. "It is clear that when I mark each section it is correct".
9:06 - The user suggest the possibility of mark as incorrect for situations when users are reviewing a document but cannot type.
11:14 - When asked about general impression: "It's quite clear and simple. There is nothing to be confused about."
12:12 - The user comments he is currently translating in French since he knows the language well and input in non-latin languages is inconvenient.
13:55 - User is not sure about the outdated marker. No indications are given to explain the meaning.

Test 2: ULS

00:13 - The user tries to search for "the Moon" but gets too many undistinguishable search results.
01:23 - The user starts looking through the table of links and gets disconnected.
6:42 - The user is asked to acces the Wikidata equivalent page in different languages. Got disconnected again.
09:11 - The user reconnects and is able to change between languages.
12:20 - The user is asked to provide a description in Tamil
13:35 - When the user is told that there is support for input methods. First tries to find it close to the text area. Then looks for it at the ULS and configures it properly.
16:30 - The user is able to use the input menu but cannot figure out how to start using it: "I'm trying to use the Tamil language input system [...] but I think I find it hard to use because I don't know what the mapping is for the keyboard".
18:00 - When asked the user confirms: "It is easy to find the options, and I can see that there are several options available, but I'm having trouble actually using it".
20:00 - The user changes to Hindi, sing the more settings option. More languages list seem to be ignores by the user.
20:25 - The ULS does not close automatically after applying settings, and the user has problems hitting the x since the recent changes tooltip appears on top.
21:10 - "I'm using transliteration for input and it seems a little buggy, it is not exactly accurate and it is not responding correctly".
22:37 - The user changes to French (using the map), and realizes he needs to set the input method to type special characters. Looks for French in "more" languages from the IME menu but does not find French. Then he access the input settings where French appears and selects it expecting to find support for it.
25:28 - The user provides general impressions about the ULS: "It is quite easy to change and shift between languages [...]. It is even not that difficult to activate the input method. It's just the usage of the alternative input method that has an issue."
26:10 - The user comments about the map: "I like this map system. It is a good idea to quickly narrow down the list of languages." When asked about the reason for not using search: "I didn't need the search. Once I selected the part of the map, I instinctively scrolled the list."
28:10 - When asked about the role of "Display settings" the user is not sure: "it is for the language of instructions", and tries to use it. When the feature is explained: "I don't see the distinction here, but I think it is a good idea".

Test with User #3 on 21 Nov

The user speaks English and Chinese. Normally translates on meta.

Test 1: Full-page prototype

2:20 - The user finds the lacking translation and how to edit it.
3:15 - The user asks about the lack of machine translation or translation memory. Tries to find it on the marker on the left.
08:08 - The user finds the compare view and side-by-side layout easier to use.
09:15 - The user is not sure about what the clock means. One it is clarified, the user asks for an easier way to see the diff with previous version.
11:40 - The user starts proofreading and understands the actions of marking and editing. He suggests that proofreading makes only sense with the "compare" view.

Test 2: ULS

17:00 - The user is asked to search in his language but Input methods are initially active for a different language.
17:49 - When the user disables the current input method, and tries to activate an input method for Chinese. The input language shown in the settings is "English" despite this is not the current input language. The user selects Chinese (which lacks input methods), but the previous Indic language selected is still the one active in the menu.
18:30 - The user finds it hard to find how to disable input method support.
19:00 - The user tries to change the input method, and he is not able to search for his language since input method is enabled for a different language.
19:50 - The user considers the green button used to enable and disable input methods a little bit confusing since "the changes are too little to notice".
24:37 -The user is confused between wikidata table of links and global language selection.
27:20 - The user makes use of the "just changed" tooltip to switch between languages in order to compare the pages.
32:00 - the user wonders how to change the input language and display language at the same time: "For one option to display language, I don't have a problem with the selector. But when the input method comes in I'm not sure how to set both at the same time."

Test with User #12 on 22 Nov

The user preferred using Skype so no recording is available.

Test 1: Full-page prototype

The user is able to navigate and edit translations properly.
The user wonders what the outdated icon is.
The user scans and corrects translations.
when proofreading, the user marks correct translations by clicking on the tick marker.

Test 2: ULS

The user looks for language settings at preferences for the first time.
The user finds and configures input methods for Chinese.
The user is asked to switch languages of a regular Wikipedia page. When searching for Japanese browser search is used. When searching for Chinese, the whole list of interlanguage links is explored. The user considers that " it takes long time to find preferred language, the language selector is better".

Changes proposed based on Observations

Changes for Full-page view

Remove all options to change views and show only side-by-side comparison. The rest seem not to be that useful. That will allow the progress bar to be placed on top.
Include the warning stripe and an option to show the diff for outdated translations.
Include in the editor options to view a machine translated version or suggestions from translate memory.
The thick mark for proofreading should not be shown when the edit dialog is open.
Default action on proofreading when the message is clicked should not be to mark as proofread. Users use the tick marker.
Default action should be to edit. For clicks on original text, selection ma be what it is needed.
when the editor is opened, the cursor should be placed closer to the word the user clicked.
When a translation is lacking (not when editing an existing one), the editor should jump to next to make the translation of new pages more quick.
For outdated translations that are proofread, the outdated mark should be removed.

Changes for the ULS

Provide a better access to keyboard mappings:
- The input settings should included a "more information" link next to each input method.
- Include an option to "show/hide keyboard" (or show/hide mapping) next to the input method that provides an overlay with the appropriate mapping (if it is interactive, it is a keyboard, but it may be just informative). (See the Bolnagri option in the image)
- Show a tooltip when input method is changed with a description of the input method and a "learn how" link.
Clear indication of lack of IME support for a language:
- At the input settings, show only languages for which input methods are available. This will help but this alone is not enough since we should show the current language and this may not have input methods.
- Include a message that indicates that the current language lacks input methods.
Guarantee consistency in current input language indicators.
- Ensure that the current input language is consistently shown regardless of the view used.
- Make changes such as disabling input tools immediate to preview (the IME menu should disappear) and effective as soon as the user applies them.
- Applying the solutions suggested above for "Clear indication o lack of IME support for a language would also help"
Avoid the ULS-IME loop
Until the selector is able to set both UI and content language, we can remove display language selection and present the view as font settings.
The tooltip that indicates last language changes can overlap the close ("X") icon of the ULS making it hard to hit. Making the ULS appear some pixels below their current position, or avoiding the tooltip to appear when the ULS is open can solve the issue.
Latin languages (such as French) also need input methods.