Thread: [pgadmin-hackers] [Design Update] Connect to server for first time users

Hello Hackers!

We are beginning to validate next set of features, the workflow for getting to work on pgAdmin4. Below is an overview of the work to date, which includes some features we're going to mock up. 

We are curious to know if anyone on the mailing list has experienced these pains before or not. If so, how would our potential solutions impact you and why?

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Pains we learned 

- Workflow between opening pgAdmin and getting to work requires a lot of clicking

- Connecting to server is challenging 

      - hard to navigate fields due to tab structure 

      - error messages appearing out of context

Assumptions to validate

- Having previous state open provides a shorter path for starting users' next task

How we address this

- Expand catalog browser to previous session (currently in Redmine)

- Open entire application to previous session state (part of history persistence) 

- Focus on first time user experience to make connecting to server easier (needs validation)

To date, our team has done a collaborative sketching session to outline the workflow. Our goal was to come up with a high level solution together without thinking too much about the visual design details. We will be testing a more refined version with users to gather feedback.

This flow features

- Add server within the browser window

- Form field on one screen

- Test connection button and Save button

- Adding connection string field (if one exists can populate other fields automatically)

Next steps

- Observe users install pgAdmin4 and connect to a server

- Refine whiteboard sketches into digital mock up

- Gather feedback on wireframes

- Prioritize work (because this is not a frequent task, is this painful enough to be something we address?)