(Archived) Red Circle around "New Note"

[mrgilbo 0]

Hi Guys,

This could well apply to the Windows version of Evernote as well as OSX, but seriously, what gives with that massive red circle around "New Note" that refuses to go away if you have 1 or no notes in your notebook? You know, the one that apparently stays there permanently until you add more notes.

Do you perhaps think I've not noticed it? Do you think I need this pointing out to me all the time and that I'm so stupid that I can't tell where the "New Note" icon is having been told once? Do you really feel the need to save me from my own stupidity by consistently pestering and reminding me with a massive, unsightly red circle slapped across the user interface?

Do you know what it is? It's INSULTING. Maybe I only want one note. Maybe I have the ability to recall the position of an icon. Please, show your users a little respect, show the red, animated circle once and then get rid of it.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I'm just pointing something out which, having launched the application several times now and created a test note to play with, has already pissed me off to the point of writing on the forums.

Walk away from your computer & take deep breaths. Seriously, although this is obviously something you consider as insulting your intelligence, this is not that big of a deal. There are more important things to get worked up over.

[jefito 5,598]

A red circle says to me - Hey Stupid! and gives me the opinion - as does this string - that everyone here is busy talking down to their new users.

So add a note, and don't let yourself feel bullied by a piece of software. To quote Eleanor Roosevelt: "No one can make you feel inferior without your permission".

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Yawn.

Add a note & poof! Red circle is gone. Evernote is for notes. Plural. If you only need one note or less, you probably don't need Evernote. If that's (one of) the most irritating things about the app, then that's quite a great compliment.

[MichaelDunham 0]

As a new user - I personally find it to be one of the most irritating things about the program. It is just silly. If your test audience didn't seem to understand how to use the interface, most development teams would simply look for better placement in the interface.

A red circle says to me - Hey Stupid! and gives me the opinion - as does this string - that everyone here is busy talking down to their new users.

[TheGurkha 1]

just adding a single note isn't testing or trialling EN. If all you want is single note then you could just create a single document in any other application. EN shines when you hundreds or thousands of notes.

[christofferdall 0]

I also Googled it and found this discussion.

Fair enough to help users get a long with a new program, but once I added a note I figured "Is this really going to stay there?". Didn't actually think of adding a second one.

The issue is not that it's insulting my intelligence, but it's distracting if you keep the window open on a second monitor for instance. A setting in preferences or removing the function once the first note is created (and should not return if you delete that first note) is the way to go in my opinion.

Just my 2 cents.

[guxit 0]

I actually googled "how to get rid of the red circle in evernote" and this came up first. Glad to see other people are annoyed by it too.

Would it be possible to add something in the application preferences like "show reminders when note counts are low" or something like that? I plan to use evernote mostly as a homework manager, and I don't really think I will need more than one note too much...

[mrgilbo 0]

Indeed my wording probably comes across as being a bit overly... emotive.

I would agree that the appearance of the "click this button first!" prompt isn't exactly beautiful, but it's designed so that you should only see it once, and it's trivial to make it go away by pressing the button once.

If it's designed to be seen once then maybe have it disappear permanently once you've clicked it? For some clearly, the fact that it comes back again when you either clear out all your notes or choose to have only 1 note is a bit irritating. We're all actually singing from the same hymn sheet here!

[engberg 89]

I would agree that the appearance of the "click this button first!" prompt isn't exactly beautiful, but it's designed so that you should only see it once, and it's trivial to make it go away by pressing the button once.

[jbenson2 2,149]

Dave Engberg said on Feb 8, 2011

• We did a lot of usability testing last year, and found that a lot of people would install the software, log in, and then be immediately overwhelmed by all of the buttons and panels and controls on the screen, and have no idea where to start.
  We've done a number of things to improve this (including the "Getting Started Guide"

http://www.evernote.com/about/getting_started/), but a slightly tacky prompt on the "New Note" button for first-time users seemed better than risking people not knowing how to get started.

Spock said:

• "Were I to invoke logic, however, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

[Metrodon 2,188]

But why is it thus reasonable to assume that anyone who only has one note has obviously forgotten how to add more, despite there being a very big icon saying "New Note" at the top of the window and despite being told already?

On first launch, with one welcome note there, yes... by all means highlight the button. But please, once you've clicked it, added a note and thus managed the incomprehensibly difficult task of using hand-eye coordination to click an entire icon with "New" written on it... is it really necessary to continually point it out?

So new users appreciate the pointer. I'm not arguing that. Did this market research ask how many users appreciated having the pointer there non-stop at all times until they added a note out of desperation just to get rid of it?

All I'm trying to do is play with various aspects of the program using a test note I've created. Maybe there should be huge marker pen highlights around every single icon until I've exhaustively utilised that function?

Once is enough.

Really it makes you this angry?

Create 2 test notes?

[mrgilbo 0]

Much ado about nothing.

Very helpful, dude, however my concern is aimed at the developers, not you. I'm just pointing something out which, having launched the application several times now and created a test note to play with, has already pissed me off to the point of writing on the forums.

Even "Take a tour of Windows XP" only shows itself several times before wrapping its head around the idea that you've probably noticed it by now and aren't interested.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

But why is it thus reasonable to assume that anyone who only has one note has obviously forgotten how to add more, despite there being a very big icon saying "Add Note" at the top of the window and despite being told already?

On first launch, with one welcome note there, yes... by all means highlight the button. But please, once you've clicked it, added a note and thus managed the incomprehensibly difficult task of using hand-eye coordination to click an entire icon with "Add" written on it... is it really necessary to continually point it out?

So new users appreciate the pointer. I'm not arguing that. Did this market research ask how many users appreciated having the pointer there non-stop at all times until they added a note out of desperation just to get rid of it?

All I'm trying to do is play with various aspects of the program using a test note I've created. Maybe there should be huge marker pen highlights around every single icon until I've exhaustively utilised that function?

Once is enough.

Much ado about nothing.

[mrgilbo 0]

But why is it thus reasonable to assume that anyone who only has one note has obviously forgotten how to add more, despite there being a very big icon saying "New Note" at the top of the window and despite being told already?

On first launch, with one welcome note there, yes... by all means highlight the button. But please, once you've clicked it, added a note and thus managed the incomprehensibly difficult task of using hand-eye coordination to click an entire icon with "New" written on it... is it really necessary to continually point it out?

So new users appreciate the pointer. I'm not arguing that. Did this market research ask how many users appreciated having the pointer there non-stop at all times until they added a note out of desperation just to get rid of it?

All I'm trying to do is play with various aspects of the program using a test note I've created. Maybe there should be huge marker pen highlights around every single icon until I've exhaustively utilised that function?

Once is enough.

[jbenson2 2,149]

Maybe I only want one note.

Really?

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Do you know what it is? It's INSULTING. Maybe I only want one note. Maybe I have the ability to recall the position of an icon. Please, show your users a little respect, show the red, animated circle once and then get rid of it.

It's reasonable to assume anyone using Evernote would want more than one note. OTOH, if you only want one note & the red circle is so INSULTING to you, perhaps you should use the Mac equivalent of Notepad/Wordpad/etc.

[Metrodon 2,188]

They did a load of testing on new user users (more than your sample size of just yourself) and it seems that the majority of new users appreciate the pointer.

If you don't like it - add another note and it will go away.