Onboarding new non-developer users

[zyratlo]

Context

We recently built a workflow for a collaborator from a research lab and shared it with them to run themselves. They are an expert in their scientific domain, but not previously a Texera user.

The workflow itself worked, but over the course of a few days we answered questions that were "how do I do X in the UI" rather than anything about workflows, operators, or the analysis.

Sharing what came up here to gather feedback from other developers and users who have also experienced this while learning how to use Texera.

What came up

For those of us who work on the frontend, the topics below are obvious, but for users trying to learn how to use Texera for the first time, they are problems without clear guidance.

Actions that are hidden

There are many features that don't make themselves obviously known to a user. For example, Show Results and Export Results are both discoverable only if you already know where they are: one is a button in the lower-left corner of the workspace, the other is in a context menu when right-clicking an operator. Nothing on the operator suggests either exists.

Controls that block without explaining

Some dialogs can stop the user without saying what condition failed or how to satisfy it. For example, the Select button for a dataset in File Scan doesn't make it clear that you need to click the file after selecting a dataset from the drop-down. The "Export unavailable" dialog names the blocking dataset but not the rule behind it: the dataset is marked as not downloadable, and that restriction propagates to everything downstream of it. Without knowing that, there's no way to guess the fix.

Questions for discussion

1. Should we develop more mechanisms for in-app tutorials and/or guides? For new users it may jumpstart their first time using Texera
2. Do we need to add more interactive tooltips (ex. explain why buttons are disabled) and error dialogs (ex. include a solution to fix the problem)?
3. Are there other recent accounts of onboarding an outside user? It would help separate what is general from what was specific to this one

[chenlica]

Usability of the system is very important. My comments about those questions:

1. We have some YouTube videos https://www.youtube.com/@texeraprojectgeneral. I wonder whether we can recommend users to watch them first. We may also create new videos for each particular domain.

2. If it helps, then I support it.

3. @mengw15 @yangzhang75 : Can you chime in based on the interaction with users in a different domain?