We have build a prototype that explores how the Blocks & layout initiatives it's ideas could look in Drupal 8. This following the page & component library and concept model discussions.

It has been quite a challenge to build a UI that meets the many usecases this system has to cater for. After many discussions we now have a firm grasp on many of the complexities. We still have a long way to go before we get to a level that is core worthy in terms of user experience, but feel by doing prototypes and usability testing we can build towards a solid proposal.

We would love to get more in depth feedback, we are now at a point our our process where we want to make a number of important conceptual decisions.

The main discussion topics are:

• How we can make it simple for Edith (content creator) to customize layouts and add blocks, and how to avoid confronting her with too many technical details (contexts/data sources).
• How users can effectively browse blocks relevant in their given context/data source, and how users can explore all the blocks.

Below is a video that does a walk through the prototype:

Next steps

Code freeze is coming up quickly, so we intend to keep moving fast on this. Kris vanderwater (EclipseGc) is working hard to get a number of technical breakthroughs that will allow us to start implementing this. We believe its too vast, to design and build at once so we hope to get there by steadily implementing parts of the design.

In the next two months we want to:

• Continue the discussion
  We want to build consensus on the fundamental UI concepts and continue discussing on layout, block inheritance, page variations, relationships and conditions. We also hope more designers and researchers jump in to help working on the more detailed designs.
• Usability testing prototypes
  We want to usability test these prototypes to get a better understanding how our users perceive all this functionality. We want to do this early on, before we start implementation.

Join us on http://groups.drupal.org/node/242403