This feedback is wonderful - thank you for taking the time to experiment with the prototype and communicate your thoughts. I'm going to try to respond to each one...
1. Add a new link: the fullscreen link search overlay feels disorienting
This is understandable. You are now the second person that has mentioned issues with the search overlay. We have a few ideas about what could be contributing to this feedback:
- Whole screen: as you mentioned, the search overlay takes over the whole screen.
-View title: the search overlay doesn't explicitly communicate what action you should be taking inside of it. The text in the title bar just says "Link."
-Transition: the way the search overlay "transitions"/"overtakes" the article and editing tools does not feel right.
- Context: besides showing text within the search field, the search overlay does not include greater context about the content/article you are trying to edit.
We will be addressing the View title issue in the second version of the Edit Cards that we are working on now. Here is a peek into what they are likely to look like: Edit Card v2.0 designs. If you have feedback on these, please let me know...these designs will get posted to the project page later this week.
We are also beginning to think about Transitions. That work and the conversation around it is happening in this Phabricator task: T224277
We will see if these interventions have an impact. Although, it is possible the root of this "loss of context" issue could turn out to be, as you suggested, that the search overlay takes over the whole screen. We're going to keep experimenting so we can find out for certain :)
2. Change a link target to an external link: two tabs are unnecessary.
Oh, interesting. Are you suggesting having two tabs – one for wikilinks and one for external links – is unnecessary because it adds friction to adding external links? If so, this friction is partially by design. Adding external links is not something we are trying to encourage more of.
Spellchecking
I want to make sure I've understood you correctly. Are you suggesting the following?
a) Spellchecking is not working for you in mobile VE.
(If so, what device and browser are you using? Spellchecking should work.)
b) Without spellchecking, contributors might be compelled to fix typos instead of doing more high value edits, like adding and modifying links and citations.
Taps on redlinks do not likely represent an intent to edit
It's funny you mention how contributors who tap on redlinks are not likely intending to make an edit. Right now, we are having a conversation about this very issue, albeit in a different context. We are talking about whether it makes sense to include edit sessions started by taps on red links in our calculation for edit completion rate. If you are curious, that conversation is happening on Phabricator, in this thread: exclude edit attempts initiated by red links.
Welcome to Wikipedia/onboarding appears for first time editors
You are correct. I checked and the "Welcome to Wikipedia" message will appear when you edit for the first time. Where "first time" is determined either by the prefs database (for logged-in users) or cookies (for logged-out users). This explanation is courtesy of the always helpful, @Whatamidoing (WMF).
This aside, I share your perspective that the mobile onboarding could be improved :)
Last thing! I had a couple quick questions about your experience with visual editor...
- How familiar are you with the visual editor on desktop?
- How familiar are you with the visual editor on mobile?
- How frequently do you use the visual editor on a mobile device?
- How frequently do you use the visual editor on desktop?