Study: where Postulo shows or asks for more than the person needs #1250

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opened 2026-11-13 10:42:05 +00:00 by tiagoagueda · 1 comment

tiagoagueda commented

2026-11-13 10:42:05 +00:00

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The need

#1249 (show the city alone when everything is in one country) is one case of a wider rule the maintainer wants applied across Postulo:

Information is kept. What is displayed, or required from the user, is kept to a minimum.

This issue is the study: go through the whole application and list every place where it shows or asks for more than the person needs, then propose the simplification for each. It produces a report and follow-up issues; it changes no code.

What to look for

Redundant display: a word or value repeated on every row of a list (a country, a currency, a status shown when only one exists, the same company name under its own page, the year on dates within the current year, "Your" on every label of a personal page, units repeated in each cell).
Redundant questions: a field whose answer is already known or derivable (country when the person's is set, language when the page's is, currency from the country, a time zone from the profile, a title that is the company plus the role, a kind that the plugin can tell). Default it and let the person change it, or ask only when it is ambiguous.
Fields shown to everyone that few use: collapse the rarely used ones behind "More" so the common path is short, without removing them.
Choices with one option: a select with one entry, a tab bar with one tab, a section with one item (a language switcher with one language, a pipeline step the person never uses).
Words that could be icons, or sentences that could be words: the labels and help texts longer than the control they describe (see #1247 for icons, #1248 for sector names).
Empty states and confirmations: text shown for an empty list that repeats the heading; a confirmation page for an action that can be undone; a notice that appears on every visit.
Settings and forms: pages with many options whose defaults are right for most people; options that could be derived.

How to run it

Walk every screen of the application, light and dark, desktop and phone, with a new account and with the test instance's data, noting each case with a screenshot and the file that draws it.
For each, decide: drop, derive, default, collapse or keep, with the reason; never "remove the information", only its display or its request.
Rank by how often the person sees it and how cheap the change is.

Output

A report, published as a document linked from this issue, with the ranked list; one follow-up issue per accepted item (or per area, for the small ones), linked back here and labelled interface; this issue closes when the report is accepted and the follow-ups are filed. Items touching the 0.7.0 redesign are noted against #1191 so the new screens are built simple.

## The need #1249 (show the city alone when everything is in one country) is one case of a wider rule the maintainer wants applied across Postulo: > **Information is kept. What is displayed, or required from the user, is kept to a minimum.** This issue is the **study**: go through the whole application and list every place where it shows or asks for more than the person needs, then propose the simplification for each. It produces a report and follow-up issues; it changes no code. ## What to look for 1. **Redundant display:** a word or value repeated on every row of a list (a country, a currency, a status shown when only one exists, the same company name under its own page, the year on dates within the current year, "Your" on every label of a personal page, units repeated in each cell). 2. **Redundant questions:** a field whose answer is already known or derivable (country when the person's is set, language when the page's is, currency from the country, a time zone from the profile, a title that is the company plus the role, a kind that the plugin can tell). Default it and let the person change it, or ask only when it is ambiguous. 3. **Fields shown to everyone that few use:** collapse the rarely used ones behind "More" so the common path is short, without removing them. 4. **Choices with one option:** a select with one entry, a tab bar with one tab, a section with one item (a language switcher with one language, a pipeline step the person never uses). 5. **Words that could be icons, or sentences that could be words:** the labels and help texts longer than the control they describe (see #1247 for icons, #1248 for sector names). 6. **Empty states and confirmations:** text shown for an empty list that repeats the heading; a confirmation page for an action that can be undone; a notice that appears on every visit. 7. **Settings and forms:** pages with many options whose defaults are right for most people; options that could be derived. ## How to run it - Walk every screen of the application, light and dark, desktop and phone, with a new account and with the test instance's data, noting each case with a screenshot and the file that draws it. - For each, decide: **drop**, **derive**, **default**, **collapse** or **keep**, with the reason; never "remove the information", only its display or its request. - Rank by how often the person sees it and how cheap the change is. ## Output A report, published as a document linked from this issue, with the ranked list; one follow-up issue per accepted item (or per area, for the small ones), linked back here and labelled `interface`; this issue closes when the report is accepted and the follow-ups are filed. Items touching the 0.7.0 redesign are noted against #1191 so the new screens are built simple.

tiagoagueda added this to the 0.6.0 milestone

2026-11-13 10:42:05 +00:00

tiagoagueda added the

interface

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2026-11-13 10:42:05 +00:00

tiagoagueda referenced this issue

2026-11-13 10:43:30 +00:00

Forms: suggestions and auto-completion in most fields the person fills #1251

tiagoagueda commented

2026-11-13 10:43:30 +00:00