"start a cluster" usability is unintuitive

[dianasaur323]

I noticed this while I was doing a "mock install."

On the docs home page, I clicked "Start a Cluster" with the expectation that I would be able to install through that, but was taken to the second step of the process. Wanted to get your thoughts on that.

[sploiselle]

Can I get a screenshot, or can you show me what's happening for you? Can't reproduce on my machine.

[jseldess]

@sploiselle, was actually just starting work on this as part of some other tweaks to start a cluster docs. The intro paragraph says, "once you've already installed...", but that's the only indication of the prerequisite. So I was just going to add a "Before You Begin" section before step one. Doing that on a few other pages, too. Make sense to you?

[jseldess]

But to clarify, @sploiselle, my approach is just a quick fix. You should certainly factor this into your broader thinking about onboarding, which may change the getting started approach more fundamentally.

[sploiselle]

Misread @dianasaur323's issue; thought she meant it was bringing her to step 2 when clicked the tile. The proposed change makes sense to me.

[dianasaur323]

Haha, ok! Yes, basically I would have expected that start a cluster would take me to install first. Sorry I wasn't more clear about that - thus, the proposed fix is actually very straightforward, just changing where start a cluster links to. Diana

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On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 11:52 AM, Sean Loiselle ***@***.***> wrote: Misread @dianasaur323 <https://github.com/dianasaur323>'s issue; thought she meant it was bringing her to step 2 when clicked the tile. The proposed change makes sense to me. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1254 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AFgDWH9FXPg2kIsLK_mJc6pNoQ5cUDoJks5rs7imgaJpZM4M0aMN> .

-- Diana Hsieh diana@cockroachlabs.com 407-690-9048

[jseldess]

@dianasaur323, I'm not actually suggesting that we link from "Start a Cluster" on docs home to the install page. I'm suggesting that we do still take users to the "Start a Cluster" page, but add a "Before You Begin" step reminding users to install first. Totally open to doing this differently, but we haven't gotten any other complaints about this, so I suspect users aren't too confused (35 positive/3 negative feedback submissions to date).

[dianasaur323]

I don't think we need to make a change based on that data. I was just bringing this up as an opinion, and you should definitely do what makes the most sense to you. Let's leave everything as is and close this issue out.

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On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 12:04 PM, jseldess ***@***.***> wrote: @dianasaur323 <https://github.com/dianasaur323>, I'm not actually suggesting that we link from "Start a Cluster" on docs home to the install page. I'm suggesting that we do still take users to the "Start a Cluster" page, but add a "Before You Begin" step reminding users to install first. Totally open to doing this differently, but we haven't gotten any other complaints about this, so I suspect users aren't too confused (35 positive/3 negative feedback submissions to date). — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1254 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AFgDWKZ-K5k63FfyvLocQDS0BXft8nV0ks5rs7t4gaJpZM4M0aMN> .

-- Diana Hsieh diana@cockroachlabs.com 407-690-9048