Potential UX issues with always-visible YAML panel vs generate-on-demand

[bfabio]

We had previously removed the live side panel and replaced it with a modal that shows up only after clicking "Generate". In this current UX the side panel is back.

Just leaving this here in case it helps clarify the reasoning behind a previous decision.

The idea was to improve UX, based on a few things we had observed:

• During first-time form filling, the side panel takes up a lot of space but isn't useful until the very end. It ends up occupying half the screen with something empty or irrelevant.
• More critically, the panel creates uncertainty: after loading or validating a file and then editing, it's not clear whether the YAML is still in sync. If the user forgets to click "Generate" again, or if there are errors in the form, the YAML can be outdated, and there’s no clear indication of that. The side panel doesn't do a live refresh

The modal only approach avoided both problems: it kept the UI clean during editing, and made sure the YAML shown was always generated on purpose and known to be current.

Maybe worth reconsidering?

[valeriocomo]

Hi @bfabio. This topic was discussed last week with Designers.
They suggest to gracefully hide the preview in order to give more space for the form-fill action. Users could decide to look at the preview, only if needed.
We are considering the best way to adopt this pattern.

[bfabio]

Thanks @valeriocomo, but just an heads up: if users do decide to look at the preview, keep in mind it's not live and so the second problem would still be relevant.