Add context switcher items to global search modal default view
Background
During our dogfooding and initial release, several people expressed confusion around switching contexts between dissimilar objects (profile → project).
Problem to solve
Provide clearer affordance for switching contexts in GitLab to reduce navigation effort and discovery time.
Proposal
Merge the context switcher into the global search modal. This has several benefits:
- Reduces the number of options to check
- Creates a unified launching point
- Increases affordance for search
- Prevents needing to open the navigation sidebar to go somewhere
Project page | Merged content in modal |
---|---|
Implementation
-
Move context switcher items into the global search / command palette modal - Switch context
- Your work
- Explore
- Admin Area
- Frequently visited projects
- Frequently visited
- Filters (All GitLab / {Group or Project Name}
- Switch context
Note: Other iterations are listed in these issues:
- Replace the tertiary 🔎 button in the navigatio... (#415809 - closed)
- Replace the context switcher toggle with contex... (#415811 - closed)
- Tidy up the context switcher changes (#415812 - closed)
Supporting research
An A/B test using the RITE methodology was conducted with 18 participants in total (9 for each). Read more of the report in Dovetail. Subsequent 8 additional sessions were ran testing visual differences and included testing a path to the Admin Area with similar results.
Edited by Austin Regnery