Trim inserter help panel copy

[kjellr]

This PR does a quick trim of the inserter panel's copy. Three paragraphs is a lot to read, and I think we can say the same thing with less text.

We'll have other opportunities for more in-depth education (#16315 (comment) for instance), but since this text be seen frequently, it makes sense to keep it light.

---

Before:

Welcome to the wonderful world of blocks! Blocks are the basis of all content within the editor.

There are blocks available for all kinds of content: insert text, headings, images, lists, videos, tables, and lots more.

Browse through the library to learn more about what each block does.

After:

Insert blocks for all kinds of content: text, images, videos, and lots more.

Browse the library to learn about what each block does.

[benhuberman]

The overall trimming works for me! A couple of questions:

• I know this is called the "inserter," but could we use "Add" instead of "Insert" in the copy? Insert sounds a lot more clinical, and also suggests something like "fitting into a specific space/opening" which sounds more restrictive than what I think adding a block suggests.
• As a user who has no idea what/where the library is, how would I know how to look up what each block does? (This is true of the current copy too, of course.)
• You could lose "about" here: "...to learn about what each block does."

[kjellr]

I know this is called the "inserter," but could we use "Add" instead of "Insert" in the copy? Insert sounds a lot more clinical, and also suggests something like "fitting into a specific space/opening" which sounds more restrictive than what I think adding a block suggests.

Yeah, that's a great suggestion. ⭐

As a user who has no idea what/where the library is, how would I know how to look up what each block does? (This is true of the current copy too, of course.)

Users can hover over any block in the list to get more details. I was reluctant to say "hover" because you can also navigate through blocks using a keyboard, etc. I also wanted to avoid saying something like "at the left" because that may not be helpful to blind/low vision users. I'm not sure of a good solution here.

You could lose "about" here: "...to learn about what each block does."

👍

[pablohoneyhoney]

Taking in account the noise around that panel (the whole page and UIs), I suggest to even reduce further, which will also simplify localization when/where relevant.

New suggestion
(Title) All Blocks
(Subcopy) Browse and add blocks for text, images, videos, and lots more.

(Tip) Shortcut: Use slash (/) on your keyboard to quickly add new ones.

[benhuberman]

No objections on my end to your further trimming down of the copy, @pablohoneyhoney. One thing I'd like us to keep in mind, though, is the tradeoff between being as concise (and easily translatable) as possible and channeling some feeling of warmth/personality in the product.

It's an ongoing effort to keep a balance between these two, and in some places it might be obvious that we should optimize for the former rather than the latter. I'd just be mindful of always erring on the side of concise-and-neutral. (In this example, we lose "welcome to the wonderful world of blocks!" after the first edit, and "all kinds of" and "learn" after the second. Are they absolutely essential? No. Do they add something that the latest edit lacks? I'd say so, yes.)

[pablohoneyhoney]

Good observation @benhuberman and I agree.
I'm just unsure if that extra warmth provides much value in the context of this particular moment in the user experience. Reduction also shows respect for the users and their time : ) but I agree with the sentiment of balancing functional-emotional.

Here another one in case it works better
(Title) All Blocks
(Subcopy) Browse and add blocks for text, images, videos, and all kinds of content.
(Tip) Tip: Use slash (/) on your keyboard to quickly add new ones.

[kjellr]

Thanks, you two! Regarding the extra warmth: I totally agree that we don't want to lose that entirely. But in this context, I think brevity makes a lot of sense — users are going to see this every time they open up the inserter, which could end up being very frequently. When you read the same "warm" message too many times, it becomes a bit empty. 😄

We will have other opportunities to add warmth, like in the NUX experience for instance: #16315 (comment)

Anyway, here's how this new text looks in context:

I kept the tip text the same as it was before. I think it's important to say "while typing" there, since the / isn't a global shortcut. It only works at the beginning of typing a new paragraph.

Copy-wise, I do think this works, but I also feel like it looks a little... empty? I'm not a fan of adding content or imagery just to fill up space, but I do think that big empty space really draws the eye. I tried out using one of the "blocks" images I created for another context, and while it fills up the space, it also really draws the eye. 😄

Adding the Needs Design Feedback label to gather some more 👀 and ideas.

[pablohoneyhoney]

I kept the tip text the same as it was before. I think it's important to say "while typing" there, since the / isn't a global shortcut. It only works at the beginning of typing a new paragraph.

Sorry if I misunderstood that, thanks for the context. Food for thought:

• It sounds biased towards people who write or blog. And not that useful as a tip for many other use cases.
• It's a bit biased towards devs and keyword power users.
• There are enough hints and UIs to add a new block.

Is the tip necessary then?
If you want to keep the tip, I'd leave the panel as is, clean. As mentioned before, there's quite enough going on in the page and interface if we consider the whole around this panel.
So no content/image to fill the space I'd suggest.

Some paths forward

1. Work with the text to both fill the white space and mainly create better hierarchy of attention. Everything is small and equal at the moment.
2. Find other solutions for how and where that education lives. Maybe a different layout or pattern. Have we explored others before? I apologize if I missed them.
3. Leave as is for now until we find more consolidated educational patterns.

[mtias]

Note that we'll have more tips than just this one, and one of the ideas is to rotate them each time the inserter is opened.

[ZebulanStanphill]

The help text this PR modifies has been removed, so I'm closing this PR.