HOPEX Aquila: new ideas to improve search engine

[TanguyLD]

Context
I am Tanguy Le Duff, UX designer and in charge of UX improvements for the HOPEX Aquila product. I am taking advantage of the community forum to share with you here some improvement ideas, with 2 objectives:
1) to get our customers to react to confirm (or not) these improvement needs, and possibly deepen and refine these expressions of need;
2) to allow customers to react to the ideas to identify the best possible solution in a co-construction process.

Topic
A customer shared with us that they were having difficulty with the new search engine (in V6.1).
More specifically, the need concerns a search based only on 1 single metaclass.

For this type of search (based on a single metaclass, for a single type of object), the functionality of choosing the "search domain" seems a little heavy and complex:

Additionally, once the object types are selected, the selection reminder is unclear and not explicit. There is only a "3" button, but the selection details are not available:

Ideas for UX improvements
- idea#1: add the capacity to display a detailed reminder of selected metaclasses
- idea#2: be able to enter the name of a metaclass directly in the input field without having to open the domain selection

+ your other ideas?

Please note that these are ideas for sharing, they will require in-depth study (both technical and ergonomic)

Please feel free to comment to react to the ideas proposed on the one hand, but also to add other ideas on the other hand. Thank you

[LMeden]

Hi @TanguyLD, Thank you for explaining the thinking behind the Main Object vs All. However I would like to present an example of tying to guess the main object within the HOPEX Internal Audit solution. I am logged in with the Audit Director profile, and I work with Audit objects. However Audit objects is not part of the main object list. 
The reason I bring it up is because this is the kind of feedback I receive from customers and it is hard to guess what they think is the "main" in their daily work.
I know I can change the CRUDS to make it appear in Main Objects if needed, but it requires a customization. Maybe make it easier for the end user to choose what should go into the Main Objects?

[TanguyLD]

Hi @LMeden 
First of all, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, it is very helpful.

You raise a question regarding research areas: "Why try to decide on behalf of the user what a "main object" is?"
I will take this opportunity to explain this.
The scope of the metamodel is very broad so there are many types of objects. However, a search concerns (most of the time) the main object types of the application in which the user is connected. In HOPEX EA, the "main objects" domain will be composed of: Application, Technology, ... In HOPEX Aquila BPA: Process, sub-process, ...
To conclude, domains are a concrete way of directing the user towards the objects (arbitrarily) deemed the most relevant and interesting, in an attempt to best match the uses.

With this clarification or reminder, we will explore ways to improve our search engine to avoid additional clicks and make it even easier to use. Please feel free to provide any additional feedback.

[LMeden]

Hi @TanguyLD 

Related to search. Simplify/get rid of the "main object" vs "all objects" concept. From a customer perspective the concept is confusing. Why try to decide on behalf of the user what a "main object" is? Users just want to search for objects.

In many cases it adds an additional click because what you are looking for is not in the "main objects".