Re: User Research Findings into PgAdmin

Hi

On Thu, Jan 26, 2017 at 5:01 PM, Raffi Holzer <rholzer(at)pivotal(dot)io> wrote:

> Hi Dave,
> Thanks for the feedback. This is all great!
>
> We are actually interested in doing a bit more user testing in order to
> validate the right solutions and then picking up these features ourselves.
> We can definitely still put them in the redmine backlog and pick them up
> from there though. Looking forward to working on al this.
>

Cool - yes, you generate work, you get to do some of it :-p. Please do put
everything in Redmine though, as that's what we use for change tracking.

Thanks!

>
> On Thu, Jan 26, 2017 at 6:14 AM, Dave Page <dpage(at)pgadmin(dot)org> wrote:
>
>> Hi
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 8:02 PM, Raffi Holzer <rholzer(at)pivotal(dot)io> wrote:
>>
>>> As a summary of our findings in writing:
>>>
>>> Below is a table of user needs we discovered and solutions we or the
>>> customers suggested. Some of the "missing" features people complained about
>>> are not missing at all (such as auto-complete or syntax highlighting) but
>>> the fact that people didn't know about them points to a discoverability
>>> issue we believe we can address through design.
>>>
>>>
>>> Needs
>>>
>>> Suggested Solutions
>>>
>>> Users need a reliable way to save their queries frequently
>>>
>>> Autosave, Persisting & Complete History, Persisting Un-run queries after
>>> disconnect
>>>
>>
>> Please add feature requests for:
>>
>> - Auto-saving of queries (I believe this would implement persisting
>> un-run queries as well).
>>
>> - Saving of previous queries (implemented in pgAdmin III as a combo box
>> at the top of the editor)
>>
>>
>>
>>> Users need a more efficient way to type
>>>
>>> Auto-discoverable Autocomplete, Customize shortcuts, more visible syntax
>>> highlighting
>>>
>>
>> Please add feature requests for:
>>
>> - Hint mechanism, to display balloon hints that can be triggered during
>> certain tasks to inform the user of functionality they might want to use
>>
>> - Customisable shortcuts (a panel under Preferences -> [Tool Name] to
>> allow customisation of shortcuts in each tool)
>>
>> - Customisable syntax highlight colours
>>
>>
>>
>>> Users need a process to share query output with others
>>>
>>> Copy and Paste into Excel with proper formatting, Export button to MS XML
>>>
>>
>> Please add a feature request for:
>>
>> - Allow customisation of the data copy formatting as found in pgAdmin
>> III. The defaults should be changed to not quote strings and use a tab as
>> the delimiter to allow pasting into Excel/Numbers. Note that tabs cannot be
>> represented in TSV data, so we need to deal with that and warn the user.
>> Pasting back into pgAdmin also needs to support format changes.
>>
>> - Add a drop-down menu to the Export button that the user can use to
>> select data format (the default remaining CSV). This can include XML, JSON
>> and the user-defined copy format (per above).
>>
>>
>>> Users need a way to quickly input content into pgAdmin
>>>
>>> Edit within graphic table
>>>
>>
>> I don't understand that - you can already add/edit/delete data in a grid.
>>
>>
>>> Users need query output to be stored to reuse results
>>>
>>> Results stored in history
>>>
>>
>> Typically users would use multiple query tool windows for that. Saving
>> the results in the history doesn't seem feasible - they can easily run into
>> 10s of MB or more.
>>
>>
>>> Users need an easier way to find saved queries
>>>
>>> Workspace, Search
>>>
>>
>> This would need much more definition. In pgAdmin III we had Macros that
>> allowed you to insert standard queries you had saved in response to a
>> shortcut key, and Favourites that allowed you to store a library of
>> favourite queries and load or inject them into the editor. Plus of course,
>> you can save queries to the file system. What would help here?
>>
>> Oh, and before you ask: https://redmine.postgresql.org/projects/pgadmin4/
>> issues/new :-)
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 10:08 AM, Robert Eckhardt <reckhardt(at)pivotal(dot)io>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> My main concern is making the right decisions on what to change, and
>>>>> focussing efforts in the areas where we gain most benefit. Of course,
>>>>> the resources to do the work are also critical - the current team
>>>>> already have a good years worth of work in various additional features
>>>>> and improvements.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Absolutely our concern as well which is why we don't want to work in a
>>>> vacuum.
>>>>
>>>> -- Rob
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Dave Page
>>>>> Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com
>>>>> Twitter: @pgsnake
>>>>>
>>>>> EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com
>>>>> The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Raffi Holzer
>>> Product Manager
>>> Pivotal Labs
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Dave Page
>> Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com
>> Twitter: @pgsnake
>>
>> EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com
>> The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Raffi Holzer
> Product Manager
> Pivotal Labs
>

--
Dave Page
Blog: http://pgsnake.blogspot.com
Twitter: @pgsnake

EnterpriseDB UK: http://www.enterprisedb.com
The Enterprise PostgreSQL Company