Question

Feedback on upcoming Redesigned Content Creation Flow

J
Userlevel 2

This morning we reviewed the upcoming redesign of the content creation flow by enabling the Preview toggle that has been made available.  We have a number of concerns with this new feature and would like to understand if this will be optional or if all users will be forced to accept this change?

Concerns

  • Custom Content Types are not included in the new wizard.  This means that it adds both confusion and extra clicks each time we need to create a new content item (i.e. navigating to the Design Tab > catalog and change content type to a custom type).
  • The UI is jarring and confusing - the screen background turns blue and all the navigation menu disappears. It feels like you are redirected to an external app
  • We would like to understand what the value proposition is for this change?  For users that are very used to the existing process, what value does it offer for them? 

Given that this change is due to be rolled out on June 18th we would appreciate if you can confirm if this is optional or not asap.

Thanks!

31 replies

giovanna.orlando
Userlevel 3

In my instance, I can’t see any way to preview this new feature. It will be a sudden change in June if we don’t have a chance to preview. Any advice?

L
Userlevel 5
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@giovanna.orlando Click the plus sign to add new content and then in the top right, you’ll see a small icon to enable the preview. 

 

Lisa Rollins - Unite Us
L
Userlevel 5
Badge

The custom colors come over and it makes it visually a bit much. My eyes can’t handle the other bright colors for the UI, so I have to use the grey and it is very somber to hit this page!  


However, my biggest concern is now that I have an extra click to get to a Microcourse. It currently is 

  1. Click +
  2. Click Microcourse type.
  3. Enter Name

With the new format - 

  1. Click +
  2. Click Short
  3. Click Microcourse
  4. Enter Name

It feels as if they are moving to a more guided approach, but I think that many of us don’t need that approach. Wizard-based walk throughs are great to learn, but once you learn, it can become frustrating. 

I am excited to hear more about the new templates feature rolling out, but this one doesn’t really do anything to help me at this point. 

Lisa Rollins - Unite Us
giovanna.orlando
Userlevel 3

We always use custom content types, so I do not think this will add value for us, and will likely cause more issues, because like @jeananne stated: 

  • Custom Content Types are not included in the new wizard.  This means that it adds both confusion and extra clicks each time we need to create a new content item (i.e. navigating to the Design Tab > catalog and change content type to a custom type).

I hope this will be an optional feature and not turned on in all instances.

L
Userlevel 5
Badge

Oh, wait, I see what you mean! We have a custom content type for MicroCourse because we don’t like MicroCourse “Template” showing up to users. The new UI only says MicroCourse, so I thought it was grabbing our custom one, but you are right...we will have to go into a whole other area to change to that type and the other custom names we use with MicroCourses or whatever (like Resources). 

Well then, let me update my clicks needed to create a custom MicroCourse in the new UI - 

  1. Click +
  2. Click Short
  3. Click MicroCourse
  4. Enter Name
  5. Click Design
  6. Click Edit Catalog Settings
  7. Change content type
  8. Click Save


    @Thought Industries Are there further changes down the road that will fix this and allow us to have our custom types on this main interface?  

    @jeannehurtz FYI
Lisa Rollins - Unite Us
giovanna.orlando
Userlevel 3

@LisaRollins do you have any other stuff set up on your custom MicroCourse? Like in our instance, we have custom fields, the basics of the course outline, sometimes the completion criteria already set up for our users. Then they copy the template so they get a head start and don’t have to configure as much. 

K
Userlevel 3
Badge +2

Thanks for calling attention to this. I missed the enable announcement until seeing this post. I just tried it out - and the main concern is this:

  • Custom Content Types are not included in the new wizard.  This means that it adds both confusion and extra clicks each time we need to create a new content item (i.e. navigating to the Design Tab > catalog and change content type to a custom type).

As stated above - this now creates a lot more friction because of the increased number of clicks. You also have to remember which custom content type rolls up to the appropriate template (as this is only viewable from the catalog detail page now). 

L
Userlevel 5
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@giovanna.orlando We don't have that set up through the custom Content Types...are you doing that? Or are you just creating template content and then having folks copy those? 

We tend to create new for now because ours are often a bit unique, but I could see where a general template would be helpful for us and maybe it would help us avoid this new “add new content” click session that is coming. 

Lisa Rollins - Unite Us
giovanna.orlando
Userlevel 3

@LisaRollins , you’re right, now that I think about it, I’m not actually able to change the custom Content Type content. But we just have “shell/template” type items that already have the custom Content Type and the basic outline, metadata, etc. filled in as much as possible. 

Community Team
Userlevel 2

Hi Jeananne,

Thank you for your detailed feedback! We understand the concerns you have regarding the Content Creation flow as it’s a very large departure from the previous approach.

The goals of this redesign is to serve up a sleek, beginner-friendly experience for new users who are not familiar with the large number of content types we support by offering guidance into which one they should pick that would best fit their learning goals.

However, we completely acknowledge that this first iteration isn’t necessarily serving our expert users who may already have their own flow. Hence, we’re quickly following up with Templates that are best suited for long-time users who’ve had the opportunity to standardize the creation process and designated content to copy from (see “Early Announcement” in Release notes). Content marked as a template will be available to choose from within this new redesigned Content Creation Flow. This should save our admins a lot of time as they can now work off of an existing structure rather than from a blank starting point. If there is still a need to specify a custom type within the wizard, we will also most definitely also take that into account as a potential enhancement.

Your feedback is valuable to us!

Thank you,

Community Team

J
Userlevel 2

Hi 

A key concern is that this new wizard is being rolled out ahead of the template change.  The early announcement states that it is “coming soon” but no date is provided. 

We have over 30 admins globally that upload content.  This means that we are going to have to provide a training session on the new wizard (plus supporting documentation) and then have yet another training session & documentation update required when the templates are introduced.  This is most definitely going to cause confusion especially when I’m assuming both changes could be rolled out in quick succession.

Is it possible for you to consider:

  • Provide a user preference so admins can decide if they want to use the new wizard or not? (preferred)
  • Delay the launch of the wizard until the templates are available?  
  • Consider the user experience for new admin users when they are presented with this new wizard whereby the navigation disappears which is really not intuitive.

Thanks,

Jeananne 

J

@LisaRollins Thank you for looping me into this conversation. I relayed your feedback to our Product Team who is tracking these concerns among TI customer base. They will come back to us with updates shortly. Product Team will be rolling out templates alongside the content wizard that will not be part of wizard but should address advanced user workflow. We will have more information on that before the preview toggle is removed. Our Community Manager has posted more detail on templates in this thread. 

J
Userlevel 4
Badge

@jeananne - great thread, thanks for starting this conversation!

We already use our own “templates” - basically a course(s) that has the appropriate custom content type associated with it and all the settings that we use - so we just copy that template course when creating a new course. This would keep us from using this new wizard and the associated issues that you have identified.

 

charles.zimmerman
Userlevel 5
Badge +3

Simply put, there are so many areas that need addressing like the ability to simply check more than one box for a mass action that doesn’t exist yet but easily could.  The UI fix on User Activity.  The list goes on and this is the third release this year that is big and took a lot of time and no one knows why or for what reason new projects are being launched when old ones are unfinished.

Lifelong Learner
charles.zimmerman
Userlevel 5
Badge +3

Oh, wait, I see what you mean! We have a custom content type for MicroCourse because we don’t like MicroCourse “Template” showing up to users. The new UI only says MicroCourse, so I thought it was grabbing our custom one, but you are right...we will have to go into a whole other area to change to that type and the other custom names we use with MicroCourses or whatever (like Resources). 

Well then, let me update my clicks needed to create a custom MicroCourse in the new UI - 

  1. Click +
  2. Click Short
  3. Click MicroCourse
  4. Enter Name
  5. Click Design
  6. Click Edit Catalog Settings
  7. Change content type
  8. Click Save


    @Thought Industries Are there further changes down the road that will fix this and allow us to have our custom types on this main interface?  

    @jeannehurtz FYI

What about creating new content was so difficult that it needed training wheels?

Lifelong Learner
Community Team
Userlevel 2

Thank you everyone for your input. We have some exciting updates to share in this thread:

  1. Content Type Selection in the Wizard: Our development team is working on adding the content type selection to the wizard. Stay tuned for this enhancement!
  2. Template Release in June: We are excited to announce that templates will be available starting in June! Get ready to enhance your content creation experience with these new tools.
  3. Wizard Preview Extension to July: To ensure a smooth transition, we are extending the wizard preview until July. Rest assured, we will not remove the legacy UI until templates are available. However, please note that we will eventually sunset the legacy UI and move forward with maintaining a single, streamlined interface.
  4. Navigation: We understand that some of you may have concerns about the navigation disappearing in the new design. This was a deliberate decision aimed at reducing distractions and helping you focus better on the task at hand. This design approach is common in many products, and we believe that with a little time, it will become more familiar.  We will always provide a straightforward way to exit the modal and return to the main navigation when required.

Your patience and feedback are always appreciated. We are committed to making these changes as seamless as possible for all of our users.

Thank you,

Community Team

J
Userlevel 2

@jeananne See above - more to come

J
Userlevel 2

Thanks for the update.  Can you please confirm if this means that custom content types will be available to be selected within the wizard?

Content Type Selection in the Wizard: 

Also, when will you be able to provide more specific dates for when the wizard will be available in July?  given that it is holiday season we need to plan accordingly.

Thanks,

Jeananne 

Community Team
Userlevel 2

We have some exciting updates for this group!

  • The Templates Folder is now live! Templates can be easily saved and then selected during the content creation process. Check out this article for more information. 
  • Custom Content Type Selection (yes, it will be your custom types coming back into the creation process) is currently projected for the June 20th release. 
  • The preview will run until July 17th, at which point, the time will have come for our legacy UI to ride off into the sunset 🌅.

Thank you,

Community Team

giovanna.orlando
Userlevel 3

@Community Team thank you so much for listening to this feedback. The ability to mark something as a template and have it show up there is so great!

D
Userlevel 3

Contributing to the conversation here as I have feedback of the Templates. Great concept, limited in scope.

Because Pano Authors/Admins don’t have visibility to see folder structure or even put content into folders, the templates are not visible to them. Because of this, when they go through the new content creation flow, they are not prompted with the option to choose a template.

So... When are Content folders coming to Pano level and when will Pano Authors/Admins be able to use templates?

charles.zimmerman
Userlevel 5
Badge +3

@dhall All content is created at the main site no matter your role.  Are you using Ti’s Pano content builder role?  Maybe that feel like they are building at the Pano level but it’s not.

  For us, content is built by a single shared account in the main instance and that role will be able to see and use templates and the new workflow.  I am asking if we can opt out.  Our story is likely unique.  We are unable to use Ti’s Pano Content Creator because that role is able to edit anything that is provisioned to the Pano.  Thanks all.  CZ

Lifelong Learner
Thought Industries
Userlevel 1

Hi Everyone!

:tada: It's Here! The Custom Content Type Picker is Now Live! :tada:
We couldn't be more excited to announce the release of the Custom Content Type Picker in the new Content Creation Flow! This addition makes content creation easier and more customizable for users with permission-based roles.

Here's what you can look forward to:

  • Effortless Selection: All relevant options are displayed in a convenient dropdown menu.
  • Smart Sorting: The sort order is based on the most recently created content type, making it quick and easy to find what you need.
  • Streamlined Process: If there's only one custom content type available, we'll skip this step to save you time.

Important Note: You can still edit the content type anytime within the Authoring Catalog settings.

Get started now and enjoy a more streamlined content creation experience!

J
Userlevel 2

Hi,

We have reviewed the latest update to the new content authoring flow and continue to have a number of concerns.  Interested to hear if others share these concerns?

  • For existing users, it is introducing a long multi-click process (4 screens) where it was a single click previously to select what type of content I want to create.  The key issue here is where you have added the custom content types on the wizard.  As an experienced user, surely I should be able to select the custom content type I want on the first screen and I shouldn’t have to navigate through the wizard.
  • On the current page where you select what content type to choose, there is additional context (text) provided to help guide users.  For example, we have 2 different content types that have the same name, one of a video and the other is an article type.  In the new menu we just see the content type title appearing twice and no-one will know which one should be selected - please see attached screenshot
  • As an aside, I was not aware that this change was also impacting “Events” as I thought it was only for “Courses”.  The reason for this is that the Preview Toggle is not available on the Events page. We have a new region launching mid-August.  The admins are currently undergoing training in the existing flow so they will need to be retrained which will unnerve the team.  
  • On the wizard for Events, the placement of “Timezone” is not intuitive on the screen - why is this added on the bottom right as if this isn’t a key element of setting up an event for a global team.  If an admin overlooks this, it will cause a lot of issues.  This should not be seen as an “optional” field

Overall, we believe that the user experience for existing TI users is being degraded with the introduction of this wizard.  

Would like to know if others share these concerns?

Thanks,

Jeananne 

1 Attachment
Thought Industries
Userlevel 1

Hi @jeananne!


Thank you for your note. Based on your detailed points, here is some additional information you may find helpful:

  • We're actively working on an update to the first tab to reduce to one-click.
  • The issue with the content type appearing twice seems to be a bug; we're actively investigating it. Thank you for bringing to our attention.
  • We want to assure you that the preview for the wizard has always been available on the Add Events screen for your convenience.
  • Our Product team will consider the timezone field placement as product feedback, thank you for your suggestion.

We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Best,

The Community Team

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