Evernote needs an overhall design for Escape key behavior (Windows 10, Evernote 10.54.4)

[Anonyme For Liberty 13]

Disclaimer : I'm a very intensive keyboard user. Almost never my mouse for coding or for taking notes.

Hi everyone,

It seems the overall Evernote application needs a rework for how the application behaves when you press the Escape key. Actually it's not consistent throughout the application and it does not do much.

 

I'm pretty spoiled with how the JetBrains IDE applications handle the question (IDE are applications for coding, JetBrains do one of the best).

Let me explain what we can do in their IDEs : when you press Escape as your focus is inside a sidebar or options panel, it automatically comes back in the body of the currently edited page code in the editor tab, at the last known cursor position.
I believe it should be the same within Evernote, because they are almost identical in UI and usage:
The current note is the center of your attention as it is for a page code in your IDE and you go back and forth between your code/notes and the control bars, navigation controls, but in the end you always come back to a note.

Here is an exemple :
When I press the keyboard shortcut to add new tags to the current note, that is putting the focus inside the bottom bar of the note, at that moment your cursor is inside a new empty slot waiting for input for tag selection or creation. If I press the escape key, I would like to automatically return back to the body of the current note (my preference).

Today, if you press Escape when you are in the empty slot, it does nothing. This is because they decided to not capture the escape key every time we are inside a field for edition (almost everywhere, few exceptions). But I disagree with this choice.
Because from a user perspective, when you ask to do an action, like a research, it's indeed a good idea to automatically place the user cursor inside the field research so he can start typing right away. So it should also be a good idea to gives the user a mean to immediately cancel what he asked for and go back to the currently edited note.

JetBrains even did it better : 2 escapes behavior : first escape is to cancel current action but the focus stays within the area so you can try again what you were doing. In some situations, Evernote does already that. Second escape when your focus is still in the area but on NO ACTIVE element, then the focus/cursor is placed on the currently page code. Thats very neat. From a user perspective, le me describe how it goes : "damn, made a mistake -> Escape. Well, that wasn't a good idea to do that action in the first place -> Escape again and your focus is back on the current note, ready to be productive".

My solution today to leave the bottom bar area and get back to the note editing is to press the keyboard short (I believe F2 ? I've edited all keyboard shortcut, not sure if it is the default one) to go into the current note title field.

I understand that I'm asking a lot. Even though the power users are not many and logically they are not a business priority.

Have a good day,

Franz

[AlbertR 531]

Yep - ESC inside note text should focus the note text area (already implemented) to allow to switch to other areas (tag reminder and line and so forth) with TAB. (*)

But if you ESC from there (means: from any other than note text), focus should to set back to the last editing position within the current note (our suggenstion - if I understand you correct?). F2 is not the solution because it focuses on note title (not last edition position).

(*) Sidekick around position of the tag line: I would prefere to place the whole line above the note text (like in Legacy) because tags (together with the reminder and created information) are important attributes of the note. All these attributes should be found in a smaller area to make it easier to find it. Even the note title should be there everytime...

Example: Most of our time we are digging through masses of notes (within the note list). Very often we have to click on specific notes to more information. Now our eyes switch to the nearby note text and have to jump to bottom to see the reminder and the text. Notebook name and note title are shown above (where our eyes land at first...)

Using only the keyboard without a mouse will get us faster. Saving our eyes from stupid jumping to search relevant information keeps us focussed and awake 😉

[Anonyme For Liberty 13]

1 hour ago, AlbertR said:

Yep - ESC inside note text should focus the note text area (already implemented) to allow to switch to other areas (tag reminder and line and so forth) with TAB. (*)

But if you ESC from there (means: from any other than note text), focus should to set back to the last editing position within the current note (our suggenstion - if I understand you correct?). F2 is not the solution because it focuses on note title (not last edition position).

Yes not only from there, but from anywhere, as long you moved your focus elsewhere. Imagine, you tabbed multiple times in a row to move around the UI, wouldn't be neat to be able to get back to edit your note just by pressing Escape ? If this behavior is consistent across the application, users will learn in no time to use it for its intend, like in IDE JetBrains.

Not sure what would be the best behavior if no note is opened, I would say nothing, to not create confusion.

 

I agree with your idea of the tag line position, it makes sense. I'm not sure about the note title though as it is already at the top of note, so in the same line sight.

[AlbertR 531]

1 hour ago, Anonyme For Liberty said:

Yes not only from there, but from anywhere, as long you moved your focus elsewhere. ...

... was exactly my thought with "... (means: from any other than note text) ..."  😉

1 hour ago, Anonyme For Liberty said:

I'm not sure about the note title though as it is already at the top of note, so in the same line sight.

... but is scrolled away if you page down. In Legacy (and this is my EN version - I do not come from JetBrains) the note title keeps being visible (Outlook and many other apps that handle "notes" work the same way - title is visible during editing text.

Moreover: If you move up the cursor during note editing, you will end up in the title line 😤. This is dangerous: If you do not recognize this behavior, you will change the title by accident wenn you start type anything.... Normal cursor movements inside the note text area should not leave this are. You should use ESC to do this by intend...

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

I think this is a good idea (without getting into the details about what happens in each corner of the interface, just in general). It would be good to post it in the Windows app feedback/feature requests forum: https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/forum/731-evernote-for-windows-requests-versions-100-and-above/. There people can vote it up or down. There is, to be honest, no evidence that a large number of votes there moves a suggestion to the top of Evernote's development list. But perhaps it at least brings ideas to their attention.

[Anonyme For Liberty 13]

26 minutes ago, AlbertR said:

... but is scrolled away if you page down. In Legacy (and this is my EN version - I do not come from JetBrains) the note title keeps being visible (Outlook and many other apps that handle "notes" work the same way - title is visible during editing text.

I see what you mean. Yeah, good idea.

 

About the moreover, I'm no sure I agree. I see where this idea is coming from. Most modern Web applications nowadays allow user to move around the UI with the arrow keys. This is more intuitive than Tab key and the direction you give has meaning to where the focus is moving. When I use ctrl + home to go instantly top, the cursor doesn't go beyond the top of the note, so for me there is no issue. I guess you are not using ctrl + home and keep Up Arrow down to go to the top of your documents, hence the problem of selecting the title by mistakes. I can see that.
 

[Anonyme For Liberty 13]

15 minutes ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

I think this is a good idea (without getting into the details about what happens in each corner of the interface, just in general). It would be good to post it in the Windows app feedback/feature requests forum: https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/forum/731-evernote-for-windows-requests-versions-100-and-above/. There people can vote it up or down. There is, to be honest, no evidence that a large number of votes there moves a suggestion to the top of Evernote's development list. But perhaps it at least brings ideas to their attention.

You're right.