[Unified Search][UX] user missing the apply query prompt

[drewdaemon]

We had an internal report that a user can miss the prompt to apply their query before saving. Particularly, this was noticed when deleting the query and immediately saving. The user was also on a wide screen, which moved the update prompt further outside his field of visual focus.

Screen.Recording.2023-05-03.at.12.41.51.PM.mov

This user was editing Lens visualizations in bulk, so it could be that this issue is magnified or only present for his persona, but it does open the question: is there room to make this signifier more clear on large screens? Alternatively, does it ever make sense to do an auto-apply?

cc @MichaelMarcialis @gvnmagni

[elasticmachine]

Pinging @elastic/kibana-visualizations @elastic/kibana-visualizations-external (Team:Visualizations)

[stratoula]

Cc @andreadelrio too as she has worked a lot on the unified search 😉

[andreadelrio]

I seem to recall there's already been work done to make this button more visible, but we could consider showing a EuiBeacon in this case.

Alternatively, I wonder if we could show a confirm modal upon clicking Save for this scenario. Something like You have changes you haven't applied to the query you're about to save. [Apply changes and save] [Save as-is]

[MichaelMarcialis]

Alternatively, does it ever make sense to do an auto-apply?

The auto-apply concept is interesting. I can see it not always being desirable (i.e. for performance intensive queries), but perhaps the addition of an option to auto-apply query changes on blur would be a nice enhancement (an option that is off by default, but can be turned on if users wish to move more rapidly).

In any case, assuming this isn't an extreme edge case (which is something we should confirm before proceeding), and we feel it's vital for users to know they can update their visualization with the latest query changes when saving, I like @andreadelrio's suggestion of a confirmation modal. However, if it is an extreme edge case (or we're unsure), I'd hesitate to make any changes that throw up roadblocks for the user during the save flow.

[stratoula]

I am not a fan of the auto apply tbh. I feel that this is an extreme case although I am not opposed to a confirmation modal.

[dej611]

In order to provide better transparency of priorities, issues that will not be prioritized within the next 24 months are being closed.