Photo import UX review
The new photo import feature works, but parts of the process feel ambiguous, as a result of both implementation and design issues. It would be good to try and resolve some of these before 3.28.0.
Image detection
If the device doesn't contain any new photos, it still appears. It would be better if only devices with new images were displayed.
In-app notification
- The button looks like it is going to perform the action immediately after it is pressed - it is missing "..." after "Import".
- What's going to be imported? It doesn't say. The mockups suggest that the subtitle should indicate the device type and the number of new photos. It should provide more details about the device and what's going to be imported.
Device identification
- In my test, the SD card I inserted had a symbolic hard drive icon (the icon was correct in Files).
- In my test, the device was called "disk" - which was a bit confusing. If we don't anticipate good device names, using generic names could be an option, like "32 GB SD Card".
Photo selection
The step where photos are selected for import feels ambiguous:
- The title is the device name - in my case, "disk" - this doesn't give a clue about what's happening or what's going to happen after selection
- The "Add to Photos" button is in the bottom right, which feels quite hidden. It took me a while to find it.
- "Add to Photos" doesn't have a ... - it looks like pressing the button performs the import action.
Also, none of the images are selected by default, and there's no obvious way to select all. Importing all the new images, or most of them, is going to be the most common action.
My suggestion would be to do the header bar like:
Album dialog
- This is the stage where clicking the action button actually performs the import, but this isn't communicated. The action button just says "Add".
- The dialog title and the action button label don't match - one says "name" and the other says "add".
- Why am I forced to add the import to an album? Why is the field prepopulated with the date? Photos should automatically group by date - an album shouldn't be needed for this.
- Selecting an existing album would be easier with a grid of thumbnails.
One way to resolve these issues might be to change the title and the action button label, and to add a description of what will happen. We might also decide to use thumbnails for the albums and not require creating one.
General issues
- What actually happens during import is never communicated - the fact that the photos are copied rather than moved, and where they will be placed. This is quite important - people understandably need reassurance that they won't lose their photos.
- I'm not sure that ~/Pictures/Imports is the most helpful place to put imported images...