Moodle User Interface Guidelines

Note: This page is a work-in-progress. Feedback and suggested improvements are welcome. Please join the discussion on moodle.org or use the page comments.

The greatest risk of this effort is that developers may not find it when they need it, while designing parts of Moodle. Please help: look at what is here already now, and comment: How could it serve your development work better? What aspects of user interface design would you need clear guidelines on? If there is any reason you feel you can not benefit from the guidelines, please tell me about it in the developer forum thread. See also: Introduction

• Introduction
• Help requested: comment on these guidelines

Moodle basics

• Hierarchy of a Moodle site (one attempt)
• Page structure and different page types
• Roles
• Groups

Moodle UI library

UIs are built of Elements and Interaction Styles (bigger wholes, which are built of Elements).

Elements

• Big Select List
• Hierarchy Browsing List

• Tooltip
• Links and Buttons

• Command Popup Menu
• Dialog
• Popup Window

Interaction Styles

• Wizard
• Help Popups
• Feedback page
• Form (incomplete)
  • Radio button
  • Checkbox
  • Dropdown lists (incomplete)
• Building blocks
  • Course Format
  • Block (not a technical guide but a guideline how what to take into account when using a block as a part of a design)
  • Filter
  • Module (not a technical guide but a guideline how what to take into account when using a module as a part of a design)

Guidelines that may one day be

These are plans to create new interaction styles, switch existing conventions for more usable ones, or issues that are still unclear and need to be further discussed to become actual guidelines.

Major usability issues in Moodle (separate design projects)

• Switch Button
• Add element
• Jump Navigation
• Move Element (Course front page model vs. quiz)
• Quick Inline Help ([1] for now)
• Further research required: Search
• Further research required: Editing modes
• Further research required: Data Listing
• Waiting for developments of Navigation 2.0: Tabs

General design guidelines

• Progressive Disclosure
• User Data Always (Always) Safe
• Feedback
  • See presentation (alternate link) of workshop by David Mudrak for the future direction of feedback
  • GNOME: Feedback
    • (for Desktop but still a great guide and mostly applicable to Moodle)

Relevant guidelines from other sites

• Design for People
• Don't Limit Your User Base
• Create a Match Between Your Application and the Real World
• Make Your Application Consistent
• Keep the User Informed
• Keep It Simple and Pretty
• Put the User in Control
• Forgive the User
• Provide Direct Manipulation

See also

About writing these guidelines

• Some pages use the Guideline template, others are freeform prose

Usability in Moodle

• Usability
• Usability FAQ

Implementation advice

• Developer documentation
• UI coding: Interface_guidelines

Todo

• Problem-Solution Summary Table (TODO: See [2])
• Glossary