Moodle User Interface Guidelines:Introduction

Moodle User Interface Guidelines > Introduction

Introduction

These guidelines are a reference for Moodle developers to help them document the user interface (UI).

The primary purpose is to document what is already there. While I was developing a UI for the Quiz module, it often seemed that it was rather difficult to know how exactly to make an UI coherent with the Moodle style. I have started to find out, and I intend to document it, so that Moodle can give a more consistent user experience in the future, by helping developers quickly find what there already is. The guidelines under the heading Moodle UI style aim for this purpose.

The other, and perhaps a longer-term purpose is to have a bit of a reference and a foundation to invoke discussion about usability issues. They are guidelines that often apply not only to Moodle but also to other web applications. They also aim to make Moodle more welcoming to people coming from elsewhere on the web, to whom Moodle UI might at first seem strange. These guidelines are under the heading User Interface Design Guidelines.

The point of this effort is not to catalogue all the elements in all UIs in Moodle. Virtually all UIs have aspects specific to that UI only. Each UI is supposed to serve different kinds of unique needs and circumstances users have. But there is also a lot that is common between different UIs in Moodle. Most screens have a header and a footer block, and tabs are used a lot. In addition, many elements are common to all web applications: Links, buttons, lists etc.

Status in June 2009

This is not a usability project that would address all of Moodle, and no user research is involved at this time, though I will usability test some of the guidelines. Having some level of consistency is just a starting point for actual usability work.

Reaching for both of these goals, I invite you to join me. I am currently funded for the duration of the summer of 2009, which can get us started together. I want to find out how this should look like to serve the community best.

You can help by commenting on Guideline_template and on Progressive_Disclosure. The former describes how the latter is written, so it might be a good idea to read and compare these side-by-side. If you wish, you can even add new guidelines yourself - don't worry about if they look right yet - and I can take a look at them too. During July 2009, the number of guidelines will increase - if not by you, then by me. I will hope to have a lot of eyes on them to make sure they are easy to understand and use.

I am still trying to find a balance between the using a lot of time to use in writing and iterating a guideline page to be readable and getting a reasonable number of guidelines written.

The point is to have something everybody will use in development. I want you to reject this, but do it now, please, not later :). Tell me what you think might be better. Let us build this together.

Thanks! --Olli Savolainen 13:53, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

P.S. You are also welcome to take a look at the project page, but I am warning you, there's a lot to digest there.

Notes

• TODO 2009-06-26: refer to the index also, add work in progress template to big select list
• TODO: look at the introduction writings of well-known HIGs
• TODO: See Pattern Language Structuring Patterns