UX

This page collects general UX requirements.

Generally available buttons and menu items are disabled instead of not shown

req~ux.disabled-vs-hidden~1

When there is functionality generally available but cannot be executed at the present time, it is shown as disabled.

Example: Button to open a link. If there is no link, the button should be shown but not enabled.

Needs: impl

Confirmation dialogs use the action name as the confirm button label

req~ui.dialogs.confirmation.naming~1

In confirmation dialogs, the confirm button must be labeled with the specific action name (e.g., “Download full text documents”) rather than a generic label such as “OK” or “Yes”. This makes the intended action unambiguous and reduces the risk of accidental confirmation.

Needs: impl

Auto close of merge entries dialog

req~ux.auto-close.merge-entries~1

The merge entries dialog collects and merges data from multiple sources. In case there is only one source, it should not be shown. Since some data fetchers take time, we need to open the dialog and wait until all sources are available. As soon as only one source is available, the dialog should be closed to speed up the user’s workflow.

Needs: impl

Critical startup failures show an error dialog

req~ux.startup.critical-error-dialog~1

If a critical error occurs before the main window is fully constructed, it must not fail silently. The user needs a visible error dialog, in addition to the log entry, since digging through log files is not accessible to most users.

Needs: impl

Activating large libraries keeps entry previews responsive

req~ux.active-library.preview-responsiveness~1

When a user activates a large library, automatic group construction and group-count evaluation must not delay rendering the selected entry preview.

Needs: impl