[GS] Improve initial results display

[ryankeairns]

Related to #58049 #62010 #78771 #84523

Due to both a need for trimming scope from the initial version and varying opinions on the initial results display, the use of 'Recently viewed' items as the default result set was carried over to this issue.

As of this writing, the initial results display will present a list of alphabetized applications since 1) that is readily available content and 2) it supports the core premise of this being a navigation-oriented feature. Looking ahead, we can make this experience better. Following a few ideas that have been proposed. Let's use this issue to capture further ideas, discuss, and settle on the next iteration.

Proposed ideas

• Recently viewed items (move or duplicate from left nav)
• Recent search terms
• Frequently visited apps and objects (re-surfaced in [Discuss] Lens, Dashboard-first, and Navigational Search #84523)
• Empty result set; replace with helper text, hints, or example searches
• Available types, coupled with [GS] Advanced search syntax to fine tune results returned #74290 (e.g. Dashboards, Visualizations, Workpads, ML Swimlanes, etc.)
• Getting started: if no objects, consider prompts to 'Create a new X' or 'Add data'

Note about current logic

If we stick with the current design - showing all the apps - then we should still clean up the logic as described in #78771 .

Related Issues

• Allow the top center search bar to populate most recent viewed tools #170661

[elasticmachine]

Pinging @elastic/kibana-core-ui (Team:Core UI)

[alexfrancoeur]

@joshdover I think @ryankeairns and I can break this one up into bite sized tasks. @ryankeairns I have some thoughts here, but if you had prioritize any of these improvements - what would they be?

[ryankeairns]

My personal, general inclination would be to introduce some form of increased weighting for frequently visited apps and objects.

I don't know that we need to relocate 'Recent items' from the left nav, per se, but rather consider other intelligent solutions based upon an individual's activity. In other words, if a person keeps visiting specific apps and objects, we should do something like increase their score.

This has me wondering if/how we can approximate such behavior until personalization capabilities (and more robust scoring) exist in Kibana, but I'd imagine we could come up with some 'less expensive' ways that leverage the existing recent activity localStorage or add some data to that object, for example (i.e. counting visits to apps, etc).

As for some of the other options mentioned in the description:

• Recent search terms - its an existing pattern, but I also sense the potential for presenting an ugly list of short terms
• Empty results with hints - seems less informative than starting with apps; loses usefulness over time
• Available types - I think we can improve the discoverability of the syntax in nicer ways (e.g. with the tag suggestion)

[elasticmachine]

Pinging @elastic/appex-sharedux (Team:SharedUX)

[roshan-elastic]

Hey @ryankeairns - do you know who the PM on this would be? Just had a call with the customer who suggested the following enhancement:

• Allow the top center search bar to populate most recent viewed tools #170661

Wondering who I might be able to ask about high-level priorities around search.

[ryankeairns]

@roshan-elastic Check with @kevinsweet . I won't go so far as to say he is the PM ;) , but he has been looking into usage other needed enhancements.

[roshan-elastic]

Hey @kevinsweet - I'm wondering whether you have any high-level indication of priorities of when we might look at updating the 'search' component at the top of Kibana?

(feel free to PM me if easier!)