Decision area presentation issue
A novice might get confused by the way the decision area is currently organized. I will use the Why the distinction between "Disagree" and "Block"? discussion as an example.
The Previous decisions section contains one entry for a previously reached decision, and right below is another entry for the most recent decision. The problem is, that the format for the most recent decision is different than the format for the older one. This is confusing, because it looks like the most recent one is somehow more important.
A novice might think that the older entry was superseded/overruled by the more prominently presented most recent decision and will not bother to read it (that happened to me).
One option to solve this problem is to present/format all entries in the Previous decisions section the same way.
Yeah, I agree @alexanderzatko - the way that Previous Decisions is handled is quite confusing.
It's a bit of a tricky design problem: a list of decisions that conveys chronology while also drawing your attention to the correct area of focus (i.e. when you load the page for the first time, the current decision should be highlighted, and when you are reviewing a past decision, you should see it in context with the ones before and after it.)
Here's the latest snapshots of the new interface. The intention is that past decisions are presented in a 'collapsed' view, and clicking on one will expand it with a smooth animation, which will hopefully help to keep the user oriented as they navigate across different decisions.
What do you think?
"...the current decision should be highlighted..."
Is there a reason for this? Shouldn't all decisions be treated as equal by - for example - being shown in collapsed state? I think a proposal should be shown in expanded mode only during voting.
Of course the proper implementation depends on our understanding of the "character" of the decisions. If we believe that the previously reached decisions are stepping stones to newer ones, then the current functionality might need only minor tweaks to make this clear. If on the other hand we accept the view that all decisions are equal, then they should be displayed as such. In the former case we can talk of hierarchy of decisions and choose a tree presentation. In the later the decisions might be shown as a list (as they are today when they are shown in collapsed state).
Interesting question @alexanderzatko - I would have assumed that the most recent proposal is indeed more important than the past ones, as (most of the time but not always) multiple proposals indicate an evolution towards greater shared understanding in the group. In other words, the latest proposal is the best snapshot of the group feeling, and it supersedes the past one.
It will be an easy thing to experiment with though, once we have launched the new interface.
@richarddbartlett @alexanderzatko As for "stepping stones" towards a decision, I've been contemplating a system where users could propose a rough draft idea that allows for subsequent revisions. Iterative refinement of a statement that is solidified one step at a time through proposals and votes ultimately culminating with a proposal of a final draft.
The proposed design is better since it doesn't show votes in chronologic order which is irrelevant.
Before voting, would help to decide faster if it would be a link to a screen split in two: left side comments of votes against, right side comments for votes sustaining the proposal.
@richarddbartlett is this something what will be updated in the new interface?