Lexi — Wireframes

Screen 1.0

Empty State — No Word Selected

User has loaded source text but hasn't clicked any word yet. The right panel is idle, prompting the user to interact.

Text Presenter Highlight any word to look it up
Lexi AI-powered translation dictionary
Chinese (Simplified)
English
AI SUMMARY
DICTIONARY
HISTORY
FEDERATED
👆
Click a word to look it up
or type a term in the search bar above
← empty state prompt
↕ draggable divider

Design Decision

The empty state uses a friendly icon + text prompt rather than leaving the panel blank. This teaches the click-to-lookup interaction on first visit.

Interaction

Every word in the left panel is individually clickable. Hovering shows a subtle yellow highlight to signal interactivity before the user commits to clicking.

Validate With

Usability test Task 1: Can users discover the click-to-lookup pattern without instruction? Measure time to first click.

Screen 2.0

Hover State — Word Highlighted

User hovers over a word in the source text. The word gets a yellow background highlight to signal that it's clickable. Cursor changes to pointer.

Text Presenter
Lexi
AI SUMMARY
DICTIONARY
HISTORY
FEDERATED
👆
Click a word to look it up
☝️
yellow = hover affordance

Hover Feedback

Yellow highlight on hover signals clickability. This is the primary affordance that teaches users the interaction model. Without it, users may not realize words are interactive.

A/B Test Candidate

Test hover highlight color (yellow vs. light blue vs. underline-only) and trigger (hover vs. hover+delay). Measure first-click discovery rate.

Screen 3.0

Loading State — Federated Query In Progress

User has clicked a word. The word is now selected (indigo pill). The right panel shows skeleton loaders while the federated query fans out to dictionaries, TM, and web sources.

Text Presenter
Lexi
Chinese (Simplified)
English
AI SUMMARY
DICTIONARY
HISTORY
FEDERATED
indigo = selected ●
shimmer skeleton →

Progressive Loading

Results populate progressively as each federated source responds. Dictionary results may arrive in 200ms while the AI summary takes 1-2s. Show what's ready immediately.

Search Auto-fill

The search bar auto-populates with the clicked word and the language direction auto-detects from script analysis. Zero user configuration required.

Screen 4.0

AI Summary Tab — Results Populated

The default landing view after a lookup. Shows the RAG-generated contextual translation at the top, followed by ranked alternative translations with source attribution.

Text Presenter
Lexi
Chinese (Simplified)
English
AI SUMMARY
DICTIONARY
HISTORY
FEDERATED
resilience /rɪˈzɪl.i.əns/ ZH → EN
✦ CONTEXTUALIZED AI TRANSLATION
In this economic context, "韧性" translates as "resilience" — the capacity to withstand shocks and maintain stability. More appropriate than "toughness" or "tenacity" here.
Contextual Translations
1
resilience
Capacity to recover from difficulties; strength and adaptability
Sources: Oxford · TM (3) · Web
+ LEXICON
2
toughness
Quality of being strong under adverse conditions
Sources: Cambridge · Pleco
+ LEXICON
3
tenacity
Quality of being determined and persistent
Sources: Collins · TM (1)
+ LEXICON
← AI-generated, not raw data
each card has + LEXICON →

AI Summary = Default Tab

The AI-synthesized view is the default because it provides the most actionable answer. Raw sources are one tab away for verification. This hierarchy was determined by card sorting and co-design workshops.

Source Attribution

Each translation option cites its sources (dictionaries, TM matches, web). This builds trust — the user can see why the AI recommends "resilience" over "toughness."

A/B Test

Test whether the AI summary should be fully expanded or truncated to 3 lines with "show more." Measure read rate and translation confidence.

Screen 5.0

Dictionary Results Tab

Raw, unprocessed dictionary entries from each federated source. No AI interpretation — just the data. Users come here to verify or challenge the AI summary.

Text Presenter
Lexi
AI SUMMARY
DICTIONARY
HISTORY
FEDERATED
Pleco Chinese-English
+ LEXICON
• 韧性 (rèn xìng) — resilience, toughness, tenacity
• capacity to recover quickly from difficulties
• ability to withstand or recover from conditions
MDBG Chinese-English
+ LEXICON
• 韧性 — toughness; resilience; strength and durability
• resilient; tough (of materials or character)
Oxford Chinese-English
+ LEXICON
• 韧性 (rèn xìng) — resilience; toughness; tenacity
• elasticity (when referring to materials)

Raw Data, No Interpretation

This tab shows dictionary entries exactly as received from each source. No ranking, no context-aware filtering. It's the "trust but verify" layer.

Card Sorting Insight

Users may group "dictionary" and "TM" together as "reference sources" vs. "AI opinion." The card sort in Phase 2 validates whether this separation works.

Screen 6.0

Previous Translations Tab

Shows the user's own translation history for this term and related terms. Each entry includes the source sentence, target sentence, timestamp, and language pair.

Text Presenter
Lexi
AI SUMMARY
DICTIONARY
HISTORY
FEDERATED
韧性 → resilience
中国经济展现出了强大的韧性
China's economy has shown strong resilience
2 hrs ago
ZH→EN
适应力 → adaptability
这种适应力体现在社会各个层面
This adaptability is reflected across society
Yesterday
ZH→EN
复原力 → recovery capacity
展现出惊人的心理复原力
Remarkable psychological recovery capacity
3 days ago
ZH→EN

Personal TM

This is effectively a personal translation memory. Shows how the user has translated this term (and semantically related terms) before, preserving the original sentence context.

Consistency Check

Translators value consistency. Seeing that they previously used "resilience" for 韧性 helps them maintain consistent terminology across documents.

Screen 7.0

Federated Search Tab

Web, news, and academic results showing the term used in real-world context. Highlighted occurrences help users see how the word is used across domains.

Text Presenter
Lexi
AI SUMMARY
DICTIONARY
HISTORY
FEDERATED
NEWS
Building resilience in uncertain times: Expert perspectives
Mental health experts discuss 韧性 in coping with global challenges. The concept encompasses both psychological toughness and adaptability...
psychologytoday.com
ACADEMIC
Cultural differences in understanding resilience
Research shows English speakers associate "resilience" with bouncing back, while Chinese speakers using "韧性" emphasize enduring strength under pressure...
tandfonline.com
WEB
How to translate 韧性: A complete ZH-EN guide
Translating 韧性 requires context. While "resilience" is most common, alternatives include "toughness" (physical), "tenacity" (character)...
chinesetranslation.com

Source Badges

Color-coded badges (NEWS, ACADEMIC, WEB, PRESS) help users quickly assess source type and credibility. Academic sources may carry more weight for technical translations.

Term Highlighting

The searched term is highlighted in yellow within result snippets so users can quickly scan how it's used in context across different sources and domains.

Screen 8.0

Add to Lexicon — Success Confirmation

User clicks "+ LEXICON" on a translation option. A toast notification confirms the term has been saved to their personal glossary. This is the output action that closes the loop.

Text Presenter
Lexi
AI SUMMARY
DICTIONARY
HISTORY
FEDERATED
resilience /rɪˈzɪl.i.əns/
1
resilience
Capacity to recover from difficulties
✓ ADDED
2
toughness
Quality of being strong under adverse conditions
+ LEXICON
3
tenacity
Quality of being determined and persistent
+ LEXICON
Added "韧性 → resilience" to Lexicon
toast confirms action ↘
← button state change

Micro-feedback

The button changes from "+ LEXICON" to "✓ ADDED" with green styling. A toast notification at the bottom provides secondary confirmation. Both are reversible.

Undo Path

The toast should include an "Undo" link. Heuristic: User Control and Freedom — users should be able to reverse accidental saves without hunting for lexicon management.

What Gets Saved

Term pair (韧性→resilience), source sentence context, timestamp, language direction, and the definition text. This feeds future TM lookups.

Screen 9.0

Mobile / Responsive — Stacked Layout

On screens below 1024px, the split panel stacks vertically. The source text panel collapses to ~40% height with a "scroll for more" affordance. The lookup panel takes the remaining 60%.

Source Text (collapsed)
Text Presenter
AI
DICT
HIST
FED
✦ AI TRANSLATION
"韧性" → resilience in this economic context...
1
resilience
Recovery from difficulties
+ LEX
2
toughness
Strong under adversity
+ LEX
Source Text (expanded)
Text Presenter ▼ COLLAPSE
▲ SHOW RESULTS

Stacked Layout

Below 1024px, the side-by-side panels stack vertically. The source text collapses to a preview with expand/collapse toggle. Tab labels abbreviate to fit narrow screens.

Mobile Trade-off

Translators primarily work on desktop. Mobile is secondary — reference use (checking a term on the go). Don't over-invest in mobile parity with desktop.

Screen 10.0

Core Lookup — User Flow Diagram

The end-to-end interaction sequence from loading text to saving a term. Each box represents a screen state, arrows show transitions and triggers.

SCREEN 1.0
Load Source Text
Empty state — right panel idle
↓ user hovers word
SCREEN 2.0
Hover Highlight
Yellow background signals clickability
↓ user clicks word
SCREEN 3.0
Loading / Skeleton
Federated query fires → shimmer loaders
↓ results arrive (~200ms–2s)
SCREEN 4.0 — DEFAULT VIEW
AI Summary Tab
Contextual gloss + ranked translations
↓ switch tab
5.0
Dictionary
6.0
History
7.0
Federated
↓ clicks + LEXICON
SCREEN 8.0
Saved to Lexicon ✓
Toast + button state change
↻ user clicks a different word → back to Screen 2.0

Happy Path

The ideal flow is: click word → read AI summary → add to lexicon. Three actions, no navigation required. The tabs exist for users who want to go deeper, but the default path is designed to be complete in itself.

Error States (not shown)

Additional wireframes needed: no results found, API timeout, word not recognized, network error. Each needs its own empty/error state in the right panel.

Funnel Mapping

Each step maps to a funnel stage from the metrics plan. Screen 1→2 = "Click a Word" rate. Screen 4 = "View AI Summary." Screen 8 = "Add to Lexicon" conversion.