Improve user experience in Launcher

[rutgerhofste]

The labels of the python kernels in the launcher are hard to read, especially when you have a large number of kernels. I had to hover over them to read the full name.

Below is an example of running a Jupyter lab launcher using the Amazon Deep Learning AMI. The Conda environments are already labeled in the AMI and all start with "Environment .. ", making it hard to get an overview. It would be great to allow a list view or search.

And a list of the environments in conda

[blink1073]

cc @tgeorgeux

[jasongrout]

Thanks for bringing this up @rutgerhofste, and especially for providing a screenshot that makes the problem crystal-clear. @blink1073 has CCd our designer, @tgeorgeux, for discussion.

[ellisonbg]

What we really need is kernels to provide us with a length limited "display" version of the kernel name. As long as kernel authors give us these long names, it is going to be really tough to build a good UX around them.

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On Mon, Feb 5, 2018 at 10:05 AM, Jason Grout ***@***.***> wrote: Thanks for bringing this up @rutgerhofste <https://github.com/rutgerhofste>, and especially for providing a screenshot that makes the problem crystal-clear. @blink1073 <https://github.com/blink1073> has CCd our designer, @tgeorgeux <https://github.com/tgeorgeux>, for discussion. — You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#3795 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AABr0LhmHXUbH_RpgnTPBxdVcJbRchWRks5tR0LygaJpZM4R261G> .

-- Brian E. Granger Associate Professor of Physics and Data Science Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo @ellisonbg on Twitter and GitHub bgranger@calpoly.edu and ellisonbg@gmail.com

[mangecoeur]

I've run into this issue too. Maybe a simpler list-style design (or an option to change the view to list-style, similar to file browsers) would work better.

My general feeling is also that the design currently doesn't sufficiently convey the fact that the icons will launch an environment (personally for a minute I thought they were previews of the notebook files rather than the kernels). I think a wider list or card style design with a 'launch' label/icon would help.

[aeksco]

I'm hitting this problem as well - I think a button to toggle between a List and Card view is an excellent idea.

Additionally, I find the duplication of each kernel under both the Notebook and Console headers in Launcher is visually aggressive. We could take this a step further and make the Notebook, Console , and Other sections collapsible.

[mangecoeur]

Or, to build on @aeksco 's idea, how about swapping the hierarchy from type{notebook,console} ->kernel to kernel ->type, with a card for each kernel with launcher icons for the notebook and the console associated with that kernel. At the moment you get a lot of duplication since every kernel can have a notebook and a console.

[aeksco]

@mangecoeur I like that idea a lot - we can integrate the same {notebook,console} UI elements in both the Card and List layouts for consistency.

I'd be happy to take this on as a first contribution to the Jupyterlab - perhaps a maintainer could validate the scope of this Enhancement before I start working?

[ellisonbg]

A few points: * I agree that a list based view would be helpful, but its default view should follow the existing hierarchy. One nice aspect of a list view is that it could be sorted by different fields (kernels, notebook/console, etc.). * There is an underlying problem in the information kernels are providing to the UI. In my view, all kernels should have a short name that is unique. Having kernel names that are as long as sentences, with the unique portion coming last is not going to be solved well, even by a list view. That probably would have to be fixed in the underlying Jupyter kernel spec. Can someone follow up on the other relevant repos (not actually sure which are the right repos)? I am finishing finals this week and probably won't have time to describe in great detail the various things we tried to get to the current point. A lot of UI/UX design, user testing and design exploration, and implementation iteration went into the current launcher design. Most things about the design we have now were very deliberate choices we made based on many months of work. Dramatic changes to the launcher's current card based view would need to be backed by substantial UI/UX design work with user testing. However, if someone wants to dive into a list base view, that would be great. I would prefer if the work begins with visual design mockups to prevent wasted coding time.

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On Thu, Mar 22, 2018 at 9:53 AM, Alexander Schwartzberg < ***@***.***> wrote: @mangecoeur <https://github.com/mangecoeur> I like that idea a lot - we can integrate the same {notebook,console} UI elements in both the Card and List layouts for consistency. I'd be happy to take this on as a first contribution to the Jupyterlab - perhaps a maintainer could validate the scope of this Enhancement before I start working? — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#3795 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AABr0PXGhnyxw8F7ozUDX3Xky-Q_b8kvks5tg9cLgaJpZM4R261G> .

-- Brian E. Granger Associate Professor of Physics and Data Science Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo @ellisonbg on Twitter and GitHub bgranger@calpoly.edu and ellisonbg@gmail.com

[aeksco]

@ellisonbg Thank you for the response! I understand the process required for these types of changes requires oversight, and I'd also like to apologize if my above comment in any way undermined the effort and caliber of work that went into the Launcher's current design.

I'd be thrilled to work on a visual design mockup for a Launcher list view - I'll begin pouring over the Juptyerlab design documentation so I have a grasp on the existing UI standards and I'll post an update when I've got something to show :)

[tgeorgeux]

@aeksco Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. I'm happy to help where I can.

[dsblank]

Just making a comment here that even fairly short (but qualified) names can't read. For example, we have some branded kernel names like "Calysto Scheme", "Calysto Processing", and "Metakernel Python" but those also can't be identified. Perhaps 2 lines in the box would suffice?

[jdavidheiser]

It would also be really cool if the notebook spec included a longer "description" metadata field that could be used in tooltips or shown by clicking an (i) button. We end up with a lot of customized environments that are configured differently, and a little description of those environments to display for users would be extremely helpful.

[hadim]

What about a flexible view such as in a file browser where you can switch between list view and icon view?

[ellisonbg]

I like the idea of a flexible view!

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On Wed, Jul 4, 2018 at 6:59 AM Hadrien Mary ***@***.***> wrote: What about a flexible view such as in a file browser where you can switch between list view and icon view? — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#3795 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AABr0K5IUNrX-h4N9hP4BVqMtH6k7pwFks5uDMpHgaJpZM4R261G> .

-- Brian E. Granger Associate Professor of Physics and Data Science Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo @ellisonbg on Twitter and GitHub bgranger@calpoly.edu and ellisonbg@gmail.com

[mivade]

I like the idea of a list view. A way to improve this with the current layout would be to have a large description appear immediately on hovering instead of having to wait for the alt text to show up.

[aeksco]

Just a heads up I won't have the time to take a crack at this - sorry for dropping the ball!

[jasongrout]

Changing to 1.0 for the discussion tomorrow.

[mangecoeur]

Another quick observation if this is going to be discussed further: currently when hovering over one of the icons' there is just a 'shade' effect which IMHO doesn't really convey that clicking will create a new notebook. Perhaps in addition the icon should be overlayed on hover with a 'plus' icon or similar, or a hover or tooltip text saying 'create' or 'launch' or similar.

[ellisonbg]

Opened #6529 to address the launcher issues for 1.0. Once that is merged, let's retarget this issue to Future.

[fcollonval]

For those still interested, I published an extension for JLab 2.2.x enhancing the launcher: https://github.com/fcollonval/jlab-enhanced-launcher

[aiqc]

@ajbozarth here are some ideas regarding facelift and future extensibility planning:

• Also, show/hide aka expand/collapse sections
• Settings cog would show a list of checkboxes for optional widgets
• Search would highlight the item in the launcher

[ellisonbg]

The other option is for people wanting to expand/customize the launcher is for them to build a custom launcher that follows the same APIs and disable to built in one. I certainly think we should work to improve the default launcher, but past a certain point, it will be much easier for people to customize the entire thing. We are doing that in SageMaker Studio and it has worked quite well.

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On Wed, Oct 19, 2022 at 10:11 AM AIQC ***@***.***> wrote: @ajbozarth <https://github.com/ajbozarth> here are some regarding facelift and future extensibility planning: [image: image] <https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/74990642/196758948-e23e96f2-6b29-4efa-ae06-5b3dcf1bb3a6.png> — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#3795 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAAGXUGFS7TCQHJLODFTALLWEATVTANCNFSM4EO3VVDA> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

-- Brian E. Granger Senior Principal Technologist, AWS AI/ML ***@***.***) On Leave - Professor of Physics and Data Science, Cal Poly @ellisonbg on GitHub