If you would like to start off by getting an overview of the initial thoughts of Kondo, we recommend that you check out this blog post: Introducing Project Kondo.
The new release of Project Kondo modernizes our web technology stack and entails a faster UI experience and streamlining of existing workflows. Everything with the purpose of creating better and simpler workflows as we wish to optimize your workflows to the greatest extent possible when you use the new UI.
Through dedication and hard work, we can soon provide a platform that ensures a minimum of your time spent on things that do not create value so you can focus on things that matter.
Project Kondo is an effort to progressively replace the user interface of the Ucommerce backoffice with a new application built from ground-up, using a modern JavaScript framework (Vue.js), with best practices and contemporary designs.
A Project With A Vision
A significant change compared to the previous UI is that we, to a very high extent, consider the user experience in the platform. We have a great focus on collecting feedback which we are taking very seriously and we are continuously doing research in order to ensure that we are implementing your needs to the greatest extent possible. For this reason, we now have a team of dedicated UX strategists who are undertaking research and collecting feedback from partners and end-users to ensure a satisfactory experience with Kondo UI. In this way, we are bringing you what we know you need and not what we think you need.
Faster, Easier and Prettier UI
As we want to ensure faster load times, data fetching and presentation, Project Kondo has been turned into an SPA (acronym for single page application). This means that every time you click a product or perform an action that would normally create a page refresh, it will no longer do that. Instead, it only refreshes the data thereby making the application more responsive.
In terms of functionality, a lot of steps have been simplified. This creates a lot of value for those who use it on a daily basis since it now requires fewer clicks to perform actions.
A Word On The Framework
Simplicity is the keyword. Simple on the outside and complex on the inside. This has been our criteria for choosing a framework. To build the new UI, the dev-team is using Vue.js, a progressive, incrementally-adoptable frontend JavaScript framework, that focuses on component composition and is easy to work with. Moreover, Vue.js is an open-source community-driven framework and is thus not run by any corporate entity which we perceive as advantageous.
All in all, we are pretty satisfied with the framework as it supports our main objective of progressively creating a user-friendly interface that works fast and easy.
What Will You Get Upon Release?
Below, we have provided a list of features that will be available in the new release of Project Kondo. It both presents the new features within the Products Application, in which products are managed, and the Catalogs Application, in which the catalog and category structure is built and managed.
Even with a full vision board for future releases, time will be dedicated to listen to and incorporate the feedback collected from partners and end-users. This means that Project Kondo is subject to change and will constantly be improved to ensure a great user experience. In the following section, we have provided a list of the features which will be available in the coming release on the 15th of April.
Improved UX and Efficiency: The Project Kondo Feature List
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Catalogs App
- View the structure of catalogs and categories available on a per-store basis.
- Create catalogs and categories straight in the navigation by providing the minimum necessary information. (Keyboard shortcuts are available.)
- Reorder catalogs using drag & drop in the navigation.
- Reorder categories using drag & drop in the navigation.
- Move categories to a different parent category using drag & drop in the navigation.
- Move categories to a different catalog using drag & drop in the navigation.
- See and edit all details (properties) of the selected catalog or category for the currently selected content language. All properties are now displayed using brand new modern editors.
- Edit media properties with the new media picker.
- Quickly navigate between the properties using the left-hand property navigation.
- Bulk remove products from a category.
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Products App
- View a list of products for a selected category.
- Customize the list, select properties that should be visible.
- Customize the list, sort by any column (both ascending and descending).
- Customize the list, resize any column.
- Create products with the minimum information required.
- See and edit all product information (properties) in a similar manner to catalogs and categories.
- Navigate to, see and edit all variant information (properties) in a similar manner to products.
- Create a new variant for a product with the minimum information required.
Awesome, right?
What Is Up Next?
Besides all of the above-mentioned features that you can look forward to getting to work with in the near future, you will still have to be a bit patient in regard to Prices, Stores, Product relationship management and adding existing products to a category. Currently, for these things, you will still have to switch back to the old UI. However, we are aware of the areas we need to replace, and we are working hard to provide this to you without compromising on quality.
The new UI is subject to ongoing improvement and additions to make it even more efficient. It sounds great to us, and we hope this will spark joy and that you find it just as valuable as we do!
We will keep collecting feedback from our partners and end-users and welcome any feedback you may have.
If you have any comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us or write a comment below. Send your questions, comments or feedback to: [email protected]. We would love to hear your thoughts!
