Research Method Explorer Spec (Deferred Advanced Version)

Status: Deferred (not currently live)

Purpose

• Capture a future-ready design for a richer method explorer on /research/.
• Preserve implementation ideas from the matrix prototype without keeping the complexity on the live page.

Live implementation (current)

• The live page uses a compact coverage-first method explorer include:
  • top-level method families displayed as overview cards with:
    • paper count per family
    • used-tags/total-tags count per family
    • tag coverage percent per family
  • click-to-expand family details
  • sub-tags are sorted client-side by linked paper count (descending)
  • default condensed view shows top tags only, with a Show all tags toggle
  • each sub-tag expands to:
    • representative linked papers (top 3, newest first)
    • optional View all tagged papers expansion when more than 3 exist
  • publication links are generated dynamically from site.publications via method_tags

Deferred concept summary

• A method x research area matrix with interactive filtering.
• Interactions:
  • click family row to filter areas/cards
  • click area column to filter by area
  • click cell to apply combined family+area filter
  • optional sub-tag rail when a family is active

Product goals for deferred version

• Show method breadth quickly.
• Surface overlap between methods and research areas.
• Keep interactions lightweight and mobile-safe.
• Retain URL-shareable filter state.

Data dependencies

• Canonical method taxonomy in _data/research_method_tags.yml.
• Research-area mapping in _research/*.md via:
  • method_families
  • method_tags

Accessibility and layout constraints

• No horizontal overflow on mobile.
• Keyboard-operable controls (button elements with aria-pressed for toggles).
• Clear reset affordance.

Suggested implementation files (when reactivated)

• _includes/research-method-explorer.html (matrix markup + scoped CSS)
• assets/js/research-method-explorer.js (interactive state + URL sync)
• _includes/archive-single-research-grid.html (data attributes for filtering badges/state)

Reactivation checklist

• Re-add client script include in _pages/research.md.
• Reintroduce card data attributes in _includes/archive-single-research-grid.html.
• Verify compact behavior on desktop + mobile.
• Confirm defaults are non-filtered and visually low-noise.