New user interface jarring (v 10.57.5 ) -- why not allow basic customization?

[favabean 0]

Just updated Evernote (v 10.57.5 windows desktop) and was shocked that the UI design has changed so drastically. So bothered that I made an account here to share feedback. 

In my opinion, these are the three biggest issues:

1) the new font size for titles--it is HUGE--way too big, and very distracting. There's no reason for it to be 32pt bold or whatever it is. Imagine if your email subject line text was that big--it's cartoonish, and distracts from the content of the note. Could we at least have the choice in the settings to customize the size of the title? I much prefer the old style where it was much smaller. 

2) the pre-filled gray "choose a template" text and "start writing" text over the blank note space is similarly distracting--and completely unnecessary. Could we not have the option to disable this feature? I know it disappears when you start typing, but it still is super distracting when trying to find the words to start writing. I personally love starting from the "blank" white page. 

3) it used to be just 1 click to make a new note: on the big green "+" button--now it's two clicks, and I keep accidentally clicking on the wrong button and making a "task" instead. Evernote is primarily an app for notes--so should have a simple 1-click way to make a new note, as it did before this update. 

These may seem like small things but for those of us who are quite visual thinkers and workers, it makes a difference. 

I'm a simple, but long term Evernote user--have been using it for nearly a decade as my only note taking app, and have loved using it for this. I want simple, searchable, sortable, tag-able notes synced between my laptop and my phone + the web clipping feature which I use for research--aka the original Evernote. I don't use the other features, at all. The most recent version of Evernote before this update was *perfect* for my needs --wish I had an option to undo the purely aesthetic UI changes. 

 

Edit: After a few more hours of using it, other jarring UI changes: 

4) the search function used to be *perfectly* integrated at the top of the note stack--so I could quickly search by tags and pull up exactly what I was looking for, and then "x" the search when finished. Now, if you have the sidebar minimized (as I always do, to leave more space for the notes) then search is really clunky to use.

5) the new "reminders" interface is not great; I used to use a reminder to pin my master note at the top of the stack--but now it no longer sticks there--and since there is still no "pin" function, and the shortcuts bar is moved, there is no way to replicate this function. 

 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,985]

Hi, @favabean, and welcome to the forums. Those of us who switched from "Legacy" v. 6 to the current v. 10 some time back (I waited over a year until v. 10 gained some real capabilities) have all experienced this combined aesthetic/workflow shock, so you're not alone. There are tradeoffs and workarounds, and after working in it for awhile new habits develop; and you find that you can do some things you couldn't do before. (I hope you'll experiment with the Home page.) I'll address each of your points; but like just about everyone here, I'm only another user, not staff. Specific suggestions or objections can be taken up in support tickets: https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/requests/new. In general, I'll agree with you and many others who would like more choices in the Settings (be glad you didn't see the almost depopulated Settings from the early iterations of v. 10).

1. The title size, like the big open spaces in the sidebar (which some object to), seem to me to be part of the "Metro" design style that took root around the time of Windows 8 (of cursed memory). Large elements and large spaces. My healthcare provider has a monstrously unusable interface based on this. All which is to say it's probably not going to change, and you may need to learn to ignore it.
2. The "Choose a template," etc. is even less likely to change. I don't use 'em, but people who do are certainly glad to have Templates so accessible. If you want the blank page, you could type a space or hit Enter, and remove it later on. (Off-topic: I read an anecdote about the humorist Robert Benchley from a century ago, who was stuck for an opening and figured if he just typed "The" at the top of the page something would come. Eventually he added "hell with it" and went for a drink.)
3. Double-clicking the New button, if you're adroit, will avoid the Task button and give you a note. Or use Ctrl+N, which starts a new note with no fuss.
4. Something to check out: Do Ctrl+Q, which invokes a different type of global search/switch from the one in Legacy. You can start typing a tag name and it will show up, along with notes and notebooks that have that string in their titles. If you want to search for text inside a note, use Ctrl+Q, type it in the search bar, and click "Search for XXX in Notes" (or get to it at the bottom of the suggestions using the up arrow)--which will get a list of notes containing the search text. All of all this happens without expanding the sidebar. Another option is to use the filters, which are now at the top of the note list.
5. Personally I like the new Reminders interface a lot better, but that's a matter of preference. Others have also found it annoying that using meta-data like reminders and created or updated date for purposes outside their main function, such as sorting notes, doesn't work well anymore. You can't pin something to the top of the note list, but you can pin a lot of stuff on the Home page--which I realize may seem like clutter and distraction, but does have its uses.

So that's my 7.96 cents (adjusted for inflation). I hope some of it is helpful.

[PinkElephant 8,279]

There is NO design change between 10.56 and 10.57. At least nothing that would catch the eye when opening the app.

If you upgraded from legacy to v10 now, I simply say: Welcome back from living behind the moon for 30+ months. This is planet home  again, and things are changing while you take an extended trip to outer space.

What you criticize has its merits in every single point, when you say „hey, it was so nice in legacy, why change“. It has no merits when you see EN v10 as the complete redesign it really is.

As @Dave-in-Decatur explained in fine detail, the new app may do some things differently. It doesn’t do them worse, from a general perspective. What has really improved: The new UI is a real design, not a hodgepodge of some older stuff, overlaid by some newer aspects, garnished by a few afterthoughts. It is consistent and - important - shows the same interface on different platforms.

[laurence.glazier 110]

To pin a note, try setting an undated reminder. This creates an extra column in the notebook's list of notes, which will likely contain only the one you want pinned.

[Boot17 1,485]

I can relate. After using version 10 all day almost every day for the last two years, I opened up Legacy the other day (I still have it installed) and it was, I must say, quite jarring. 😉 

If we were to use a totally different piece of software, we'd expect it to be different, but if we are using -- what we expect to be -- mostly the same software with mostly the same functions then it can be indeed quite jarring to adjust to something different.

[pokaki 2]

it's true that a lot of things have changed but not in a negative way

 

Mini Militia App Lock

[Musimon 1]

Same here. I hate the new layout. The fonts (where have all the fonts gone???), the line heights, the editor... Evernote seems to be going down the road of changing a winning team until it doesn´t win anymore.

I´m a paying user and strongly consider not continuing.

[PinkElephant 8,279]

Oh, we had this for more than 3 years now. No fonts, and the editor, and all that. 

Know what: I use v10 since day 1, and I like it. Clean, distraction free, can swap devices and everything is where it is. 

Feel free to send feedback to EN - the function is build right into the new clients.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,985]

8 hours ago, Musimon said:

Same here. I hate the new layout. The fonts (where have all the fonts gone???), the line heights, the editor... Evernote seems to be going down the road of changing a winning team until it doesn´t win anymore.

I´m a paying user and strongly consider not continuing.

"All the fonts" were specific to Windows or Mac or whatever OS, and copyrighted, and therefore couldn't be used cross-platform. Evernote decided to use a limited number of fonts which can be displayed on all platforms, which I find very much superior. Any specific complaints about the editor?

WRT the road being gone down, see https://evernote.com/blog/2023-recap.