New users, usability, PI list

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Adam Harding

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May 24, 2012, 3:54:58 PM5/24/12
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I think I've mentioned this to various folks before, but I'm putting
it out for comments:

I've had various users new to the XNAT web interface mistake the role
of the PI (and particularly the PI list UI element) for a user list
and something conferring access to a project; it seems to be a common
misconception. I don't know a good way to guide new users away from
this (reasonable to a new user) inference. A two-stage "wizard
approach" to project creation might ask for user membership first,
only later asking for PI. That seems clunky and incurs what I'd
consider a high a cost in complexity for the "problem" it solves.

Better solutions or thoughts from the UI-inclined?

Maybe put a note about this in the issue tracker concerning usability
and/or web interface?

Simon Doran

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May 25, 2012, 3:19:42 AM5/25/12
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Two further points concerning investigators:

1. Maybe it's just that I haven't looked hard enough, but I haven't seen where in the UI one edits investigators, after having committed the initial entry on the new project page. How do you change or delete an investigator?

2. One of my users recently reported a problem whereby he was able to create a project but did not have the authorisation to add an investigator. I could, however, do it on the same project as admin.

Simon

Adam Harding

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Jun 29, 2012, 5:20:46 PM6/29/12
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I didn't notice the wireframe demo for the project creation process addressing this. There, the interface still provides a means to specify the investigator(s), with nothing implying to the user the distinctions between "attach this investigator to this project" and "attach an XNAT user to this project". I.e., the tag and user concepts remain conflatable because they're both "people".

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to make the distinction clear? Perhaps a fixed text notice and/or a stark (perhaps adjacent) widget for adding *users* to the project?

Hopefully a means of editing things like the investigator list are also forthcoming in the new interface...
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