I would encourage you to ask yourselves these questions:
The last time the Cloud apps were switched to use side navigation, there was significant backlash. During the genesis of this new feature, I hope you did (or will):
review all of the end-user comments received after the previous switch to side navigation,
analyze and quantify the above user sentiment leading to dissatisfaction with the old side-nav design,
write down and share the specific pain points previously articulated by your users (and vendors) with side navigation,
review the rationale that caused Atlassian to switch back to top navigation a few years later, and
articulate to vendors (concretely, not with hand-waving) how the proposed side-nav functionality differs from the old, and draw us a specific link between each prior pain point and explain why the different functionality will satisfy it this time around.
I assume that Atlassian must already have plenty of internal design and decision-making documents on hand for the two previous navigation switches, along with lots of supporting data, even if the PMs are no longer necessarily at Atlassian.
I would also suggest that, if Atlassian cannot clearly articulate how this change will solve the previous problems with side nav, then perhaps this warrants more research and you may want to consider pausing the planned direction until you have more data.
Hi @attila.bordas
Thanks for sharing. Moving the nav to the side allows us to differentiate the global menu items (like Search) from Project specific items (like Recents, Starred etc) and enables easy switch between cross-projects\products in Jira via the side nav. The side nav is also due to us adopting modern industry standards so users find the nav similar to their commonly used industry tools (like Gmail, Slack etc). We did consider introducing customisation in the top nav (instead of the side) and a few other design patterns, but moving the menus to the side allows the top nav to scale for global menu items. (like Goals, Teams) while providing the focus on Project specific items via the side nav.
@arajah is it correct that the Chrome extension does not yet support project level apps?
Because I used the chrome extension and I can’t find any extension points for apps in the project tab navigation, and our existing apps (like Version & Component Sync) that use project level extension points (like jira.project.sidebar.navigation) are missing
Hi @remie
You are correct that the chrome extension does not support all the navigation changes at Global and Project level and is outdated. Our designs have since then evolved, which is why i did not share it with Ecosystem partners.
I am putting together a video walkthrough using figma prototypes to cover all the changes relating to Apps (Global , project level, connect extension points in User Avatar dropdown ). We will also show the collapse \ expand features and our thinking process around providing more real estate for Apps (horizontally and vertically). Pls check the video out this week and we can work through the remaining feedback\comments from RFC thereon.
Why do I get this view now on one of my instances? And it looks like you guys already put a lot of effort there, so I’m not sure what kind of feedback you are expecting from vendors:
EDIT: I see what’s the problem now… It’s because of the merge of Jira Software and Jira Work Management. Projects using templates from Work Management get this view instead of the classic one we are used to.
Thank you for your answer, but to be honest it but honestly, it somewhat confirms my assumption that the change will not be due to the users, but rather due to “following the industry standards”. I got it, more and more competitors are appearing on the market with similar interfaces, and you don’t want to be left behind, like the old mammoth, which requires an entire partner ecosystem help tu understand and to use. It’s okay, that’s good. I see a pattern here with the “recent” changes with the next-gen projects, or work project type UI/UX changes. But despite that, please really pay attention to what most of my dear fellow vendors have already written above. Eg.
Make it available to us within the developer program as soon as possible
There should be continuous communication about changes
Be WELL documented and SUFFICIENT REST endpoint and component available to us from the start
Since you can not guarantee that there will be no return to top bar navigation one year after launch, the preparation times should be long enough so that we can properly prepare for it
Do not provide option to hide the “Apps” element on the sidebar or its elements, or if you do, there should be an administrator default or configuration for this. It can cause a lot of confusion if users don’t understand why they can’t see the given app/apps, while some hidden settings were just forgotten, which we vendors will have to troubleshoot…
Also, a few of my own comments that suddenly came to mind:
Make the status of the sidebar available to us, so that we know whether the user is currently using it closed or expanded, and the app can provide navigation or context accordingly
Maybe it wouldn’t hurt if the app could control whether the new Jira sidebar is closed or opened
I don’t mind if the navigation points of our own app have to be integrated into the jira navigation, but please give me more options than a simple list (as I can see on the screenshot), they should be groups or at least separators
Hi All,
Thanks again for sharing your concerns and feedback on the Apps changes in nav. I wanted to share a broader response and update on some of the recurring topics, so it helps us stay aligned.
We acknowledge that this is a big change on your end and you need time for adoption. This RFC was aimed as a conversation starter for us to incorporate your feedback into our designs and thinking process. I have now updated the dates on the RFC to give us more time to discuss and resolve the comments.
2.Apologies for the poor quality of screenshots with the initial RFC . We will be sharing a video walkthrough of the proposed design changes using design prototypes by this week. The video will also walkthrough the value proposition and timelines for adoption for this change.
We are exploring design improvements based on your asks for focussed work, collapse of nav bars for horizontal\vertical real estate, Apps experience in Jira Software, JIra Work Management and Jira Service Management and other feedback you have shared on the changes - pls stay tuned for updates on these topics.
The Chrome plugin that was shared by @remie is a prototype to run experiments with end users to gather design feedback (that are not App specific). The plugin is neither a part of the solution build nor a part of the rollout . So while you can use them to play around the new nav, pls note that it is not reflective of the final design, has limitations and known bugs. It is a throw away piece of code, so we are minimising Engineering effort to keep this plugin up to date. Instead of the plugin, we recommend watching the video this week to review and understand the Apps changes in depth which would be closer to the latest designs in hand.
To clarify - The dates in the RFC are to close out on the design explorations and are not the expected adoption dates. We are targeting ~Oct this year for EAP to allow more time time for the changes and adoption.
To clarify - Existing functionality to features like Shortcuts and Apps will remain intact with this change. Only the placements of the menu items are impacted as a part of this change.
Hi All
Just an update that we are working on getting the video walkthrough and its taking a bit longer than expected. This should be available to you early next week.
We are inviting participants for interviews (targeting the week of 13th May) to share their feedback around these designs and talk through specific cases. Pls respond here if you are interested.
As re-iterated already, the designs proposed in the RFC are not final, we are keen to incorporate your feedback into the design explorations. Thanks for sharing!
A lot of companies end up with a long list of projects, many of which need to be accessed regularly.
Each of these projects has actionable data for the user. That is why we develop dashboards with custom gadgets: 1 for the overall processes of the company (training, HR, purchasing, …), 1 for the projects they are working on (sprints, requirements, risks, specs, tests, …).
The dashboards appear to be gone. I believe they should replace the home screen.
The layout of the elements in the sidebar is confusing. Insufficient spacing, not very clear which item is highlighted/expanded. Categories (starred, recent) look too much like list items.
“View all projects” in the sidebar will not be a great user experience. Finding the project via the top search bar, while the user was already navigating the side bar is counterintuitive.
Is it safe to assume that underneath “Projects”, we will soon have “Spaces”, in an attempt to unify Confluence and Jira in a single UI? If so, I’m always in for a discussion on a more holistic overhaul
Hi All
The video walkthrough of the changes is here https://youtu.be/tHtuzI2OyZI .
Pls add any comments to the video directly and let us know if you run into any access issues.
Just to re-confirm: now that team’24 has passed and the video is publicly available on YouTube, has the policy with regard to sharing the pending UI adjustments changed?
I got it, more and more competitors are appearing on the market with similar interfaces, and you don’t want to be left behind, like the old mammoth, which requires an entire partner ecosystem help tu understand and to use. It’s okay, that’s good. I see a pattern here with the “recent” changes with the next-gen projects, or work project type UI/UX changes. But despite that, please really pay attention to what most of my dear fellow vendors have already written above. Eg.