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waggle-os/docs/ui-ux-audit-2026-05-27/BASELINE-FINDINGS.md
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Baseline Audit Findings — 2026-05-27

Server: http://127.0.0.1:3333 (prod-built UI via sidecar, no dev hot-reload) Viewport: 1440×900 (resize attempt blocked — Chrome was maximized; using default) Console: 0 errors, 0 warnings on initial load (good).


Common findings (apply to all personas)

CF-1 · Welcome modal blocks first valid action [HIGH]

On any user with prior state, the "Good afternoon" welcome card centers over the desktop with workspace list + recent sessions + a single primary CTA "Start Working". This is good signal density, but:

  • "Don't show again" is a quiet ghost button, easy to miss
  • The card covers ~75% of vertical space; user can't see the dock app icons (only their bottom edge)
  • "Start Working" is the ONLY way out — clicking outside the card does not dismiss
  • Heading "Good afternoon" omits user name (no identity surfacing)

Persona impact: Maya/Anya/Daniel/Sara/Markus all hit this first. Costs dim 1 (first-run clarity) if first-time; survivable for returning users but adds an unwarranted step.

Hypothesis: the modal is BootScreen or similar overlay in apps/web/src/components/os/. Need to read it.

CF-2 · Test/audit workspaces leaked into production list [HIGH — data hygiene]

Workspace list shows 4 entries:

E2E-Audit-1778456027364
E2E-Audit-1778456162695
E2E-Audit-1778456628556
E2E-Audit-1778456835736

These are clearly E2E test artifacts from prior automated runs that polluted real user state. They're empty (0/0 memories+relations) but visually take up the workspace selector.

Persona impact: confuses Sara (PM, expects clean workspace list); costs dim 6 (visual clarity) for all personas.

CF-3 · Identity layer not surfaced in welcome [MED]

  • "Good afternoon" — no name
  • "5 memories · 137 entities" — quantitative, no qualitative ("you've been working on X")
  • No persona currently active indicator anywhere visible

Persona impact: dim 2 (persona discovery) and dim 8 (memory/context). Maya/Markus especially miss this.

CF-4 · Dock icons hidden under welcome modal [MED]

Visually, the bottom dock is mostly occluded. User can't anticipate what's available until they dismiss the modal.

Persona impact: dim 1 first-run; minor.


P1 · Maya (Researcher) baseline

Workflow path: Click "Chat" in dock → lands in existing session (not a fresh chat).

P1-1 · Chat opens into last session, not a fresh one [MED]

For a researcher whose first instinct is "find what I learned about X", opening a stale session is actually GOOD — they see the recent conversation list in the left rail with timestamps and topic snippets. But for an entry-point click ("Chat"), it would be more useful to default to a fresh chat with the prior conversations in the rail (which already exists), so the user can decide.

  • Counterargument: the current behavior is research-friendly. Score this as a wash for P1, but it'll bite P2/P5 who want a fresh draft.

P1-2 · Persona is shown in chat header BUT not until you're in chat [GOOD/MISS]

  • Header reads Default Workspace · Researcher — model + persona surfaced. ✓
  • BUT: on the desktop home screen there is NO indicator of which persona is active. The dock has a "Personas" button but no "currently Researcher" pill anywhere.
  • Score impact: dim 2 partial — passes for chat surface, fails for desktop.

P1-3 · Memory recall works but provenance is implicit [HIGH/EVIDENCE]

The most recent turn in this session asked "what do I know about my workspace" → reply included detailed memory recall (sovereign AI work, EU AI Act risk score 9, presentation-design skill, staged rollout decision). Quality of recall: excellent. But:

  • No citation markers ("source: session 2026-04-30") next to claims
  • No "expand to see source frames" affordance
  • The Context Rail isn't visibly attached to memory hits

Score impact: dim 8 (memory/context) passes — recall is real. dim 9 (trust signals) fails — sources are not surfaced.

P1-4 · Critical UX failure surfaced in real conversation [BLOCKER for product, OUT-OF-SCOPE for this audit]

Reading the loaded session, the user (Marko himself) hit a wall:

  • Asked agent to read D:\Projects\PM-Waggle-OS
  • Agent said: "I can't install MCP at runtime, restart needed."
  • User asked 5+ times to install the filesystem MCP, agent kept refusing
  • User finally said "OK its obvoous I have to fix you on multiple ways..."

This is a capability/architecture issue (runtime MCP installation), not UI/UX. Logging it here as OUT-OF-SCOPE for this audit but should be tracked separately — it's a true 10/10 blocker for the Researcher persona once they need any external context.

P1-5 · Chat header has 5 controls — discoverable, scannable [PASS]

Visible: persona pill, autonomy pill (Normal), model pill (claude-sonnet-4-6), Agent Profile button, "More chat header info" button. All labelled. ✓

P1-6 · Message rendering quality [PASS]

  • Markdown tables render correctly
  • Headings render
  • Inline code visible
  • BUT: no visible copy-to-clipboard on code blocks; no "regenerate" affordance (or it's the icon-only button cluster — non-discoverable)

P1 — Baseline Score

Dim Pass Notes
1 First-run clarity 0 Welcome modal blocks; dock occluded; no first-time hint outside modal
2 Persona discovery 0 Desktop has no persona indicator; only visible in chat header
3 Task completion 1 Memory recall works, can ask & get useful answer
4 Findability 1 Search button top-right, dock has Files/Personas/Vault, OK
5 Error recovery 0 When agent couldn't read filesystem, no "set up filesystem access" CTA — only prose
6 Visual clarity 0 Test workspaces clutter list; welcome modal heavy
7 Performance feel 1 Page loads quickly, no jank observed
8 Memory/context 1 Real recall observed
9 Trust signals 0 No source citations next to memory claims; no provenance UI
10 Delight 0 Nothing observed yet that would make Maya say "oh nice"

P1 baseline score: 4 / 10


P2 · Anya (Writer) baseline — extrapolated

Same OS shell, same dock, same welcome modal, same workspace pollution. Chat-specific concerns:

  • Persona switcher (uid=3_14) failed to open via click — either viewport-clipped (chat window narrow, dropdown may need wider space), z-index issue, or the button is render-locked. This is a HARD BLOCKER for Anya — she can't switch to Writer persona.
  • Multi-paragraph markdown rendering observed in P1 — passes for legibility.
  • No "draft length" / "tone" controls visible in chat header.
  • No visible "save draft to Files" button on assistant turn.
Dim Pass Note
1 First-run 0 Same modal block
2 Persona 0 Switcher unclickable
3 Task complete 0 Can't reach writer persona
4 Findability 1 OK
5 Error recovery 0 Same as P1
6 Visual clarity 0 Same workspace pollution
7 Performance 1 OK
8 Memory 1 Recall works
9 Trust signals 0 No sources
10 Delight 0 None observed

P2 baseline score: 3 / 10


P3 · Daniel (Analyst) baseline — extrapolated

  • No visible file-upload affordance in chat input area (only "Message Waggle..." textbox).
  • Chat input is single line with no +/📎/drop-zone visible.
  • Files dock app exists, but the drop-from-OS-to-chat flow isn't surfaced.
  • Markdown tables render well — when output is structured, it shows.
Dim Pass Note
1 First-run 0 Same
2 Persona 0 Switcher blocked
3 Task complete 0 No file ingest path obvious
4 Findability 1 OK
5 Error recovery 0 Same
6 Visual clarity 0 Same
7 Performance 1 OK
8 Memory 1 OK
9 Trust signals 0 Same
10 Delight 0 None

P3 baseline score: 3 / 10


P4 · Sara (PM) baseline — extrapolated

  • Dock has "Room" button → multi-agent surface exists; not tested live.
  • Only one chat window can be open visibly; window list/management not surfaced on desktop.
  • Workspace pollution especially bites here (PM sees 4 leaked workspaces).
  • Search button top-right exists for cross-chat findability.
Dim Pass Note
1 First-run 0 Same
2 Persona 0 Switcher blocked
3 Task complete 0 Window mgmt not exercised; can't verify multi-thread workflow without testing
4 Findability 1 Search exists
5 Error recovery 0 Same
6 Visual clarity 0 Same
7 Performance 1 OK
8 Memory 1 OK
9 Trust signals 0 Same
10 Delight 0 None

P4 baseline score: 3 / 10


P5 · Markus (Consultant) baseline — extrapolated

  • Same persona-switcher blocker as P2/P3/P4 — can't switch to consultant.
  • Structured rendering quality is good (tables, lists).
  • Save-to-file works (visible in P1 conversation: docx was created at path C:\Users\...\reports\Waggle-OS-Competitive-Landscape-May-2026.docx).
Dim Pass Note
1 First-run 0 Same
2 Persona 0 Switcher blocked
3 Task complete 0 Can't switch to consultant
4 Findability 1 OK
5 Error recovery 0 Same
6 Visual clarity 0 Same
7 Performance 1 OK
8 Memory 1 OK
9 Trust signals 0 Same
10 Delight 0 None

P5 baseline score: 3 / 10


BASELINE TOTALS

Persona Score
P1 Researcher 4 / 10
P2 Writer 3 / 10
P3 Analyst 3 / 10
P4 PM 3 / 10
P5 Consultant 3 / 10

Average: 3.2 / 10 · Gap to target: 6.8 pts per persona average.

The 6 universal issues to fix (each opens multiple dims for multiple personas):

  1. Welcome modal blocks (CF-1) — dim 1 for all
  2. Test workspace pollution (CF-2) — dim 6 for all
  3. No persona indicator on desktop (CF-3) — dim 2 for all
  4. Persona switcher unclickable (P2/3/4/5 blocker) — dim 2,3 for 4 personas
  5. No source citations / provenance UI (P1-3) — dim 9 for all
  6. No "delight" — dim 10 for all (could be: identity in greeting, "I REMEMBER" already exists is delight!)

Special:

  • P3 Analyst needs file-upload affordance in chat input — dim 3
  • All personas need a no-clutter empty desktop hint or "Resume X / Start Fresh" CTA