Microsoft/calculator

Update unit selection UX to highlight common and recently-used units and make it easier to find and select units

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#589 opened on Jul 18, 2019

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EnhancementPri: 2help wantedneeds spec

Description

Problem Statement Unit converters in Calculator support a large set of units, which can make it difficult to quickly access common or frequently-used units.

Evidence or User Insights There is some discussion in #382 regarding having a smaller set of units by default with an option to turn on more in settings. Numerous issues (#108, #167, #271, #325, #275, #515) discuss expanding the set of units or converters further, which improves converters overall, but makes this particular UX problem worse.

Anecdotally, it is clear to see some scenarios where we show common units mixed in with uncommon units:

image

Proposal Update the unit selection UX to highlight common and recently-used units and make it easier to find and select units.

Goals

  • Users can quickly select commonly-used units
  • Users can quickly select recently-used units
  • Users can easily find less commonly-used units

Non-Goals

  • Determining which converters/units to include is out-of-scope (covered by #515)
  • Redesign any other parts of converter navigation or UX

Low-Fidelity Concept One approach might be an AutoSuggestBox/ComboBox hybrid experience. This would allow us to highlight the most common units as well as recently used units, while also allowing users to search-to-filter/select any unit.

image image Instead of People/Places/Things, we could highlight common/recently used units

image

Requested Assignment I'm just suggesting this idea. I don't want to implement it.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
csharpcpp
Domain
frontenddesign
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of C# and XAMLUnderstanding of UWP apps
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Examine the existing unit selection code in the Calculator app, likely in files under Calculator/Views/ or Calculator/ViewModels/ such as UnitConverter.xaml. Look at how units are currently listed and selected. Review the low fidelity concept images and the linked issues (#382, #515) for additional context. Consider implementing an AutoSuggestBox with common and recently used units, and explore how to persist recently used units using local storage or settings. Design the UI to allow filtering by typing. Start by reading the relevant source files and understanding the data binding patterns used in the app.