PolicyEngine / PolicyEngine/policyengine-app-v2

UX: Make policy parameter changes more intuitive - remove need to click 'Add parameter'

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#604 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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enhancement
Dominant language
HTML
Stars
1
Forks
3
Avg merge
1d 50m
Merged PRs (30d)
39

Description

Problem

When modifying policy parameters, users must:

  1. Change the value (e.g., toggle a boolean switch)
  2. Click "Add parameter" button
  3. Review and create policy

Step 2 is easy to miss, especially for boolean switches where toggling feels like the action itself. Users expect the change to be captured immediately when they modify a value.

This was discovered when a user reported that their boolean policy change wasn't saving (#602) - they had toggled the switch but didn't realize they needed to click "Add parameter".

Proposed Solutions

Option A: Auto-add on change (Recommended)

  • Automatically add the parameter to the policy when the value changes
  • Remove the "Add parameter" button entirely
  • Show a visual indicator that the parameter has been added (e.g., checkmark, highlight)

Option B: Make "Add parameter" more prominent

  • Highlight the button after a value change
  • Add tooltip: "Click to apply this change"
  • Disable "Review my policy" until changes are added

Option C: Warn before proceeding

  • If user has unsaved parameter changes, show a warning when clicking "Review my policy"
  • "You have unapplied changes. Add them before continuing?"

Impact

This affects all parameter types but is especially confusing for boolean switches where the toggle action feels complete on its own.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the policy parameter editing flow, especially changing a boolean value and proceeding to review. Compare the proposed auto-add, prominent-button, and warning approaches with the existing behavior. Done means parameter changes are reliably captured before policy review and the chosen interaction makes that state clear.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
design, frontend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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