The create function is the most complex and diverse function in our object lifecycle and therefore took the longest to solution. It encompasses everything from how a new user is invited into the suite to how products like albums & music videos are entered into our system, how marketing campaigns are set into motion, and how finances are distributed among collaborators. This function is being used by every app and every user and is the entry point to the functionality of our suite.
With that in mind, it became clear that the answer wouldn’t be simple. I had to take a close look at the specific creation process for each and every object in our system, which led me to defining objects into two categories - simple & complex. A simple object requires certain information to be created, but it ends there. With a complex object however, once the required information to create the object is provided, there are still any number of optional steps and information that can be added to that object.
Under careful consideration of these complex flows as well as how best to accommodate confused, new users without creating extra work for experienced users, I separated the create process into two stages - basic create & advanced create. Basic create would happen in a wizard flow, taking a user through the steps required to create the object. If the object is simple, this is where the session would end. However, for complex objects we had to answer the question of what next, ultimately debating between continuing in a wizard format for a taken-by-the-hand experience or transitioning into the object edit format for a more customizable experience. The latter won out in the end, as it became clear that the frustration caused by users having to skip through steps they aren’t ready to complete to find the ones they are did not outweigh the slightly steeper learning curve it would create for new users.
Finally, the only thing left was to design the wizard mode of the full screen modal. This required defining templates and rules for things like layout and spacing as well as what defines something as a single step and how to best determine what order the steps should go in. In the end however, the information needed to create each object is so drastically different that designers for each product were given the flexibility within these rules to determine the patterns that should be used to complete each step.
