Decision: Multiple content views

Thing	Info
Relevant features	Content
Date started	2021-07-26
Date finished
Decision status	In progress
Summary of outcome

Background / context

Core question

Since we want to present multiple views for content (part view and subpart view), how should we try presenting that in the interface? This is a follow-up to Decision: Default content view.

What we believe about user needs and preferences

• People likely want to view part view and subpart view at different times for different parts. They may have part view as a preference for one part and subpart view as a preference for a different part.
• People sometimes want to send a link to part view and sometimes to subpart view. Similarly, people sometimes want to bookmark part view and sometimes subpart view.
• People want to review supplemental content by section - we probably can't address that right now, but we will eventually want to try to address that.
• Sometimes people are willing to fumble around and find the view they want, but sometimes they back out and just find a different tool to get what they want, even if it has fewer useful features in general.

Considerations

• We will need to add in selected parts from Title 45, probably early in the next phase.
• We have previously had the concept of the center column of the reg part homepage being an opportunity for supplemental content -- we don't have any compelling ideas for that right now though.

Example user story

• I work a lot with part 435 -- especially Subpart J, which I pretty much always need to have open in a tab for reference with the subpart resources available to me, scrolling to find the specific section I need. Sometimes I need to scan through all of part 435 to find something, and it's really long, so I pull up the full text and ctrl-f to find the keywords I want.

Quotes from research

• "These breadcrumbs are handy to be able to go back. So I'm in Part 95. I like to be able to jump back to the subchapter, the subtitle or the full title, and go into a different subtitle...I was hoping for a breadcrumb-style navigation thing, where I could get back to just 42." (Source)
• "The Cornell site makes it easier to go back and forth to check out other sub-parts to see if I'm missing something." (Source)

Things we need to decide + options for them

On the content page, how should we display changing between views?

How would we enable people to view the full part text from the reg part ToC page (or otherwise without visiting a subpart first)?

Are there reasonable low-lift options for the near future?

Options and tradeoffs

Link to mockups of design options #1-3.

1. Breadcrumbs

• Could become very long, although there would be ways of truncating it if we wanted to
• Would have to figure out if very long breadcrumbs are more confusing or more helpful
• Brings up the problem that we have two sort of different ways of doing breadcrumbs
• Behaves differently from the top of the page (site homepage link) - could feel duplicative or confusing
  • Could be resolved with our possible rethinking of the reg part homepage concept in general - that could resolve the duplication
• Can be helpful when we add in another title, along with section view
• Requires addressing the heading issues
• People may ignore breadcrumbs unless they're actively navigating
• People may not look for breadcrumbs if they're looking for a full part view
• People might not see it right away if they're on an anchor on the page

2. Full text link

• People might not see it right away if they're on an anchor on the page
• Doesn't really change our current system
• How would it remember what the previous subpart viewed was? (Would need to sort out what our local history method is.)
• How would it address the situation of a person who didn't visit it from a subpart view, such as if a person bookmarked it or sent a link to a coworker?

3. Toggle

• People might not see it right away if they're on an anchor on the page
• Doesn't really change our current system
• If we wanted to make this how it worked, the "full part / subpart" toggle would be an ephemeral UI toggle, like the sidebar collapse/un-collapse state - the state doesn't come with you when you bookmark or send the link. Can only link to subpart view.

4. Add full text below ToC on reg part homepage

Description: add full text below ToC on reg part homepage, add "Part x Resources" sidebar that has all the resources (Subpart A, Subpart B, etc as shown in existing full part mockups).

• Low lift to add full text below ToC, medium lift to add "Part x Resources" sidebar (but we want to do that anyway in general, because it's necessary for the concept of a full part view)
• Have to figure out where the links in the ToC take you.

Decision / next steps

All of these have interesting parts, but they don't seem to really address the underlying needs in a unified way. There may not be a simple version that really works. We probably need to go back and look at the the top and left sidebar navigation as well, in a more holistic way.

In the near term, we should try the experiment in https://jiraent.cms.gov/browse/EREGCSC-766 that explores a component of Option 4 - possibly most plausible near term way to provide a full part view. Then, later, maybe when we're addressing Title 45, revisit the nav designs in general to address our current understanding / research.