"Use Fuzzy Search" button toggle - a weird UI pattern

[isidorn]

Testing #156002

I find it weird that the "Use Fuzzy Search" is a big blue button. I think it would be styled more like the toggles in the editor find widget. Or it should be a checkbox.
The blue button is too strong, and I would expect that it executes something a closes the quick pick

fyi @misolori

[meganrogge]

Yes we agree and have had discussions about a better icon that aligns with other toggles

[miguelsolorio]

This is also being tracked in #156179 where we're looking at all of the inputs w/ actions/toggles

[Tyriar]

Depends on #156179

[Tyriar]

UX sync feedback:

Prefer a toggle over a dropdown as it's a search mode/how it's search, vs a dropdown which is typically what is searched/filtered.

It seems the consensus was some icon similar to this to mean "fuzzy search", we can also avoid mentioning "default"/"continuous"/"contiguous" if it's a toggle.

We may want the fuzzy search toggle to be remembered and/or in a setting, fzf users may want fuzzy search by default.

[meganrogge]

Wouldn't it be better to display what it actually does like we do with the Aa case specific search toggle?

[Tyriar]

Icon request: microsoft/vscode-codicons#132

[meganrogge]

By having it underline either a continuous segment or separate ones

[Tyriar]

@meganrogge that was the idea behind these ones:

The idea seemed solid but I think in practice they are pretty ugly

[meganrogge]

I far prefer those because it tells me what's going on. The other makes me think of zoom

[Tyriar]

While the magnifying glass can mean zoom, it's only used for search in VS Code afaik

[meganrogge]

Yeah but a button's icon should indicate what it does - the button doesn't search - it changes the type of filter used

[meganrogge]

IMO, that's precisely why it's confusing - I'm already searching via the input box - not sure what a search with a squiggly line will do

[Tyriar]

@meganrogge fuzzy search is more of a search mode which are typically represented as toggled. Usually filters (the dropdown) refine the search space, so a filter-like icon isn't appropriate here imo.

the button doesn't search - it changes the type of filter used

It defines how a search happens, so the icon indicates search + a modifier which is a fuzzy line.

@misolori revisiting those ideas that @meganrogge prefers, the second one seems decent and not too busy, what do you think? Maybe better with a-c or a-d as b could indicate it comes after a? We could do a team poll

[Tyriar]

Some more iterations on that idea:

[miguelsolorio]

I think those are very minor/small changes that users might confuse them with "Match Whole Word", and I think the feedback from the UX sync was those wouldn't work as best.

Are we trying to re-visit the icon itself again? I don't think we're going to find an icon that best represents it as it's a hard concept to encapsulate in an icon. I think we should try the one we just merged in and see what the feedback is.

[Tyriar]

To verifier: Verify the toggle works as expected/like the button before it