🧠 Feedback needed: Space Setup redesign prototype

[lostdiaspora]

I think this looks much easier and less confusing overall to use, I resemble that remark about Fibery terminology There’s definitely a need to show don’t tell and I think this really does that well.

[webinit]

I like it the way it is, so this doesn’t solve any pain points for me. However, I also don’t have any objections to the new layout.

I prefer the current layout at the moment purely because of familiarity and the speed of navigation that results. Not a good basis upon which to make a judgement.

It’s a creative idea and an interesting potential change.

[Oshyan]

This seems like an improvement overall, however (and maybe you already plan this): you must make it much clearer that:

1. You are in a Space Configuration Mode
2. Databases shown are not Spaces (i.e. identify what they are)
3. If filters, etc. are allowed but are per-session, also make that crystal clear (I would favor simply not including them like in the current setup)

There is definite possibility for confusion with using the same Sidebar. So I would hope to see extra effort put into making it clear where you are/what you are doing.

[njyo]

This overall makes things clearer and more scalable indeed.

A few thoughts from my side:

1. Agree with @Oshyan that the mode change into config mode is not obvious enough. I think this would be important
2. When looking at the entity/database fields and properties, it would be nice if the description of those properties would also be shown and that the more dedicated space simplifies renaming, reordering, refactoring of the names and descriptions
3. The Views section is nice and I would want to see where all a specific view is used (embedded or linked).

Thanks!

[Yuri_BC]

The Space Setup redesign prototype, is very nice.
It will solve my issue posted last year Improved Database management dashboard

[derbenoo]

Great improvement Quickly navigating between fields, rules and data will be very useful!

[aklavrov]

Space Setup screen is really very useful. It creates a sense of clarity and ease of understanding how space works. The Space Setup screen is especially useful in situations with a large number of databases within a single space.
Also, it is very useful to be able to quickly view a database after it has been created (or migrated from another source) without having to add a view Table. We just open it and use it immediately, using filters and sorting. This is very useful. Especially for those who are new to Fibery.

[lars]

I like the redesign, and I agree with a lot of the aspects already mentioned. To re-iterate a few and add some others:

• Having a separate configure button on the space makes it much clearer what is happening.
• I like that the data view utilizes the familiar table view and foregoes the 50 item limit, but I have to agree with the others that column configuration, and (non-temporary) filtering are out of place here. This is a “raw” view on the full dataset and it shouldn’t be customizable.
• It’s not visible in the prototype, but I hope the little “+” column at the end of the table view won’t be missing, because I use that a lot to add new fields
• In the field view, I would wish for “+ new field”, “+ new relation”, “+ new button”, and so on under each list section to add another item. I often use that existing button in configure fields and always have to look for it between sections. (right now “new field” is not at the end of field list, but after relations)
• Reordering fields (as it is possible now) should be synchronized between data view and field view
• Having buttons and rules as sidebar items makes it a bit more likely to accidentally navigate away from unsaved changes. There is a safety popup currently I think, but maybe the view could show that it has unsaved changes, and only after leaving space configuration the unsaved changes are discarded?
• The views folder doesn’t make any sense to me. Why would I add views there only for creators to reach? I feel like this could be solved better in regular space view with view-level permissions.
• Would it be possible with this new view to have better access to hidden sub-databases for (multi/single) select fields? Addings fields to those and assigning values is always a chore because I have to navigate from the data changing popup and option-click through to each item. Having a table view for those databases would make things a lot easier.

Again, all in all a great redesign! A couple of iterations on this and it’s gonna be an awesome addition to Fibery.

[Louis-FelixBorealys]

Great improvement!

• You should at least make the side bar use inverted contrast colors (like bright/ dark view) while you figure out something else to differentiate the setup side bar from the usual one.
• you should add a “backend setup” header for the databases, rules and buttons, and a “frontend setup” header for the views.
• with the differentiation between backend and frontend, you will be able to remove any view setup options in the frontend (usual fibery interface) to remove any confusion.
• Also, with the separation mentioned above, you’ll be future ready for the last must-have feature for fibery adoption to non-technical users : entity view customisation. I totally see in the frontend setup section along the views, all the entities associated to them and a button to configure how the entities are shown by placing where each fields should be and hiding the one they don’t need according to the groups they belong to. This would be a real fibery 2.0 and a total life changer for people like me who wants to sell fibery to organisations with non-technical people.

Cheers!

LF

[NMan]

I found the fact that when switching to this setup, suddendly on the left you are listing databases and not spaces/views anymore, very confusing.
The fact that the interface on the left looks exactly the same (colored icon, name) is also very confusing to me.

[mdubakov]

Here is the next iteration with clearer distinction in left menu

[interr0bangr]

Looking much better!

[RonMakesSystems]

Indeed much clearer! I’m a bit confused on views though. In my mind, views are on a Space level and not a Database. A big advantage of Fibery is combining multiple databases into single views. Will the sidebar config still be editable and changeable directly on frontend?

Having to configure a space in two different places can be annoying. Curious about frequency of space changes post space config (incl just adding fields). If these are low, then having full config in back end, and zero config in front could be interesting. But I’m aware creators might be annoyed that they have to go into config just to change a filter. That said, if they are able to do so in the front end, they may think that all editors can as well (because everyone has access to front end) I’m not sure which is better just something to think about

[ebell]

This is not a pain point for us. But if you make this change you need to make it even clearer that you are in an Admin section. Change the color of the left bar, because each db feels like a space.

What is a pain point is the User onboarding and use.

Having Folders for spaces would be nice. So we can clean up the left bar by Function.

• Finance folder
  • Accounting space
  • Invoice space
  • etc

[interr0bangr]

@lars

I like that the data view utilizes the familiar table view and foregoes the 50 item limit, but I have to agree with the others that column configuration, and (non-temporary) filtering are out of place here. This is a “raw” view on the full dataset and it shouldn’t be customizable.

I disagree with this and I like that there’s some new functionality being added here. I see the new “Data” section as a view just like any other, only it’s created by default for you and (i assume) read-only. A big frustration for me currently is that because the raw data in the database is not sortable or filterable, I often have to create temporary, exploratory views that I only need for about 10 seconds to validate something, but then I forget to delete the view since it was such a quick, throwaway moment in time. Then I have all these old, useless views that I keep needing to clean up days later.

If I could go to the new “Data” section as seen in the mockups here and quickly sort it or add a filter without being forced to create/save a brand new view first, that would be very helpful! If I want to save my edits as a permanent “custom” view, that’s up to me, but I wouldn’t expect any of the sorting or filtering to still be applied if I left the page and came back without saving it first.

If anyone is a Hubspot user, you will understand what I’m talking about because it’s how they handle their data too. There’s a default “All Entities” view for each database that lists every single record and you can filter and sort it to your hearts content, but if you don’t save your work as a “View” it is gone as soon as you leave the page. Hopefully this is the same type of experience Fibery is going for here.

Here’s an example of the “Deals” database in Hubspot showing what I mean:

[Oshyan]

In retrospect I agree. They just need to make it very clear for people that any filtering or other changes there are temporary, e.g. with a yellow highlight perhaps, some kind of warning message that appears when a change is made, or a warning when navigating away (could become annoying for quick checks). I also really like the feature of “cloning” a view to save the changes in an otherwise read-only view.

[Eren_Turgut]

What do you think about it?

Love it. Looks cleaner and easier to navigate.

Is it better?

Definitely

Does it solve some problems you have?

Not really, maybe minor one’s that weren’t real pain points.

Do you have better ideas or improvements?

Reordering things but you already mentioned it.
Other than that, being able to copy rules and buttons would be great. Something separate but in the topic of improving experience for Creators.

[lars]

@interr0bangr

If I want to save my edits as a permanent “custom” view, that’s up to me, but I wouldn’t expect any of the sorting or filtering to still be applied if I left the page and came back without saving it first.

Yes, 100%. Temporary sorting, filtering and so on is perfectly fine, I just see a risk when those customizations are saved between sessions. It happens a lot to my users (and myself too) with regular views already that temporary “my filters” stay applied after they were used and the view doesn’t fully show what it is supposed to show.
Especially with column configurations I can already see myself creating duplicates of columns because I (or someone else) hid them in a previous session and it wasn’t obvious to me at first glance.
So, to clarify my point: customization is fine, as long as I get a full and unfiltered view on the dataset each time I go to that section.

[lars]

One minor thing: By leaving out the explicit “data” menu item and putting it in the database top level, you are adding to the already existing ambiguity of whether a hierarchy item will present content on click or not. This is already difficult to predict in regular view:

• Spaces: can’t be clicked. Unless you are a creator.
• Folders: can’t be clicked. Unless they are actually a document that is used for nesting views.
• Smart Folders: can’t be clicked. But items within it can be.

I feel like the “data” item makes it clearer what is clickable and what is a non-clickable hierarchy item.

[mdubakov]

Allow to set any database field via URL for a Form View Implemented in today’s release

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