Inconsistent User Interfaces Very Frustrating

[njJohn 3]

Does anyone else have this problem?  I use Evernote on an iMac, iPad, Android tablet, and several Windows devices.  The interface is DIFFERENT on each platform.  I frequently switch between different devices and find it very frustrating to have to "relearn" the simplest things, like where the "New Note" button is.  

 

For example, the latest iOS version is very nice and elegant, but the UI design is completely different from what you see when you use the Windows version.

 

I would like to see an option whereby you can specify the UI layout you want and have it appear consistently across all devices.   Conforming the iOS UI  to be consistent with the Windows XP UI will certainly sacrifice some of the "prettiness" of the iOS version, but I would welcome the gain in usefulness.

 

 

 

 

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Does anyone else have this problem?  I use Evernote on an iMac, iPad, Android tablet, and several Windows devices.  The interface is DIFFERENT on each platform.  I frequently switch between different devices and find it very frustrating to have to "relearn" the simplest things, like where the "New Note" button is.  

 

For example, the latest iOS version is very nice and elegant, but the UI design is completely different from what you see when you use the Windows version.

 

I would like to see an option whereby you can specify the UI layout you want and have it appear consistently across all devices.   Conforming the iOS UI  to be consistent with the Windows XP UI will certainly sacrifice some of the "prettiness" of the iOS version, but I would welcome the gain in usefulness.

Hi. Welcome to the forums. I think the current design philosophy at Evernote is to develop the app for each operating system using different teams of developers, and they are encouraged to tailor the apps to the characteristics of each platform.

In practice, this means that Google Android users tend to favor a "flat" design, while iOS users (at least in the past) favor a "textured" design. This partly accounts for the very different designs.

I doubt that Evernote will change this overall approach, but I think a lot more could be done to standardize some design elements, terminology, and so forth. You are already seeing that in some areas such as the coloring and the behavior of the account settings. A lot more could be improved in my opinion (I use Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android). Your point about the "new note" button is a good one. The iOS and OSX versions are similar (more or less) in their behavior, but both are quite different than the Windows version, and I think they could definitely benefit from unifying the design a bit more. Here is a link that might give some insight into the design philosophy I mentioned (http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/2/3443246/phil-libin-interview-evernote-skitch).

[dlu 628]

GrumpyMonkey is fairly spot on, as usual.

 

There are some things we can work on, but I'm not even sure what the same interface on Windows and iOS would look like. Especially such different form factors (and touch vs mouse & keyboard) I don't think the same design would be useful.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

GrumpyMonkey is fairly spot on, as usual.

There are some things we can work on, but I'm not even sure what the same interface on Windows and iOS would look like. Especially such different form factors (and touch vs mouse & keyboard) I don't think the same design would be useful.

Thanks. I could see the new note button being in the same place (let's say top-right corner), the search field being in the same place (let's say above the list of notes, unlike on the mac, where it hangs out far away from the action). Android has a mysterious and oxymoronic feature called offline sync, while iOS has offline notebooks. These kinds o things could be unified an help users out a bit.

At a deeper level, searches perform differently, sorts are different, etc.

[Bobman 0]

I want to add to the original comment. The UI for Skitch on Windows is inconsistent with every other Windows application and can be frustrating.

 

Windows applications (ok, not Chrome), display a colored title bar so you can tell when they are in the foreground and can easily see what part of the window can be clicked on to drag the window. Skitch violates these expectations. Because Skitch has 1) no colored title bar and 2) the menus are at the top of the window, there is *no* way to tell if Skitch is the top-most application (if it has focus). 

 

It is hard enough on Win7 to tell what window has focus. Completely removing all visual cues just makes it worse.

 

I understand GrumpyMonkey's response and would expect that an application would be tailored to a given platform, but to have two components on the same platform (Evernote and Skitch) look completely different is very odd.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I understand GrumpyMonkey's response and would expect that an application would be tailored to a given platform, but to have two components on the same platform (Evernote and Skitch) look completely different is very odd.

Skitch was not an Evernote product, initially. It was acquired. I'd guess over time, the two apps may evolve so they have a similar look. But I don't know.

[njJohn 3]

I appreciate that developers like to take advantage of what different OSs have to offer, and certainly a touch interface is different than a mouse interface (although Microsoft would have us think differently with Windows 8).  But my understanding is that the whole point of Evernote is that its supposed to replace the yellow legal pads that I usually carry around to take notes -- I have several pads, one for each client or project.  No matter where I am -- at home, at the office, a client site, a diner, in my car, the legal pad works exacty the same way.  I don't have to learn a new "interface" everytime I want to use my notepad in a different place.  Evernote should observe a similar consistency across their various platforms, available at least as an option to premium users.

[megsaint 441]

But my understanding is that the whole point of Evernote is that its supposed to replace the yellow legal pads that I usually carry around to take notes

No, not really. Evernote is not primarily a note taking program. It's really more like a filing cabinet that you can access from anywhere. Not that that changes the premise of your argument. However, if note taking is what you want to do, you might be better served with one of the note taking apps that syncs with Evernote. I'm fond of PostEver which has both iOS and Android versions for my mobile note taking needs. If you look in the Trunk, you may find others that suit you. Apps that focus solely on note taking have an easier time maintaining a consistent interface as the feature set is so much smaller. Also, they just tend to be faster for taking notes.

Best of luck.

[njJohn 3]

Gee, I thought it was called "Evernote", not "Everfile".  I guess I must be confused.  Regardless, that does not change the premise of my argument.  Clearly, if I were lugging a portable filing cabinet around, I would certainly expect it to work the same way, and not have to learn a new way of opening it, locating my files, etc everytime I changed my location.  That's exactly what I am talking about.

 

The issue here is that when Evernote was a startup, their various platform developers "did their own thing", which is completely understandable at that stage in their growth.  But now that they are growing up, and charging $$ for their product, it's time to start acting more responsibly and consistently.  Cleaning up their interface issues would be a good step in the right direction.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Gee, I thought it was called "Evernote", not "Everfile".  I guess I must be confused.  Regardless, that does not change the premise of my argument.  Clearly, if I were lugging a portable filing cabinet around, I would certainly expect it to work the same way, and not have to learn a new way of opening it, locating my files, etc everytime I changed my location.  That's exactly what I am talking about.

 

The issue here is that when Evernote was a startup, their various platform developers "did their own thing", which is completely understandable at that stage in their growth.  But now that they are growing up, and charging $$ for their product, it's time to start acting more responsibly and consistently.  Cleaning up their interface issues would be a good step in the right direction.

 

Evernote's focus is not a notetaking app, as megsaint said.  It's a way to collect, organize & retrieve info from various sources AND be cross platform.  That doesn't mean it won't do other tasks such as a check list or table or even taking notes.  But it doesn't strive to be a text editor, spreadsheet or task manager app.  IF you want a more consistent experience b/c switching between the various apps is too cumbersome, then I would suggest you stick with the web client.

[megsaint 441]

Gee, I thought it was called "Evernote", not "Everfile".  I guess I must be confused.  Regardless, that does not change the premise of my argument.  n.

No need to get snarky. I'm just going by what Evernote says they are all about. And, I agreed that it didn't change the premise of your argument. Further, I tried to provide some helpful suggestions based on what you seemed to be asking for. I'm sorry for misunderstanding. If what you want to do is make a complaint, then I don't have anything to offer. Evernote staff does read the forum for complaints and suggestions.

[tatty27 0]

I have to admit that although it shouldn't make a difference as long as the functionality is the same I much prefer the interface on the mac much more than I do on Windows.  I really don't like the interface on Windows and because of this I don't use it even though I want to and I often wish it was the same as it is on the Mac because then I would use it more.

 

Things I prefer on the mac are...

 

Recent notes in the left side panel (great if I clipped a page and it didn't get saved where I thought it was).

View of notebooks in the main area, both the list and grid view.

The view of tags in the main area.

 

Things I don't like on Windows are...

 

All of the above is missing

I want list view at the side, not at the top.  I know this is because of all of the information displayed about the note (size, tags, updated etc) but I don't want to see all of that information all of the time. Perhaps give us the option for list view like it is on the mac and give us the choice of changing it to snippet view.

 

I think the reason why I prefer the mac interface is because it's cleaner whereas the windows interface can sometimes present too much info in one go and can seem 'overwhelming' or even messy, not something you want to see with a piece of software intended for organising.  Also, I design systems on a daily basis and one of the first things I was taught was that consistency is vital to reduce cognitive load and I agree with the original poster when they say it is a pain to have to re remember where everything is when switching from mac to pc and back again.

 

What I would like to stress though, is that this message is not meant as a dig but purely as a constructive criticism.  I think Evernote is great, especially for free, and it ticks all of the boxes I need it to but I just don't like the Windows interface and the inconsistencies.  If they were to be resolved I would probably use it more and go back to being a premium member

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I have to admit that although it shouldn't make a difference as long as the functionality is the same I much prefer the interface on the mac much more than I do on Windows.  I really don't like the interface on Windows and because of this I don't use it even though I want to and I often wish it was the same as it is on the Mac because then I would use it more.

 

Things I prefer on the mac are...

 

Recent notes in the left side panel (great if I clipped a page and it didn't get saved where I thought it was).

View of notebooks in the main area, both the list and grid view.

The view of tags in the main area.

 

Things I don't like on Windows are...

 

All of the above is missing

I want list view at the side, not at the top.  I know this is because of all of the information displayed about the note (size, tags, updated etc) but I don't want to see all of that information all of the time. Perhaps give us the option for list view like it is on the mac and give us the choice of changing it to snippet view.

 

I think the reason why I prefer the mac interface is because it's cleaner whereas the windows interface can sometimes present too much info in one go and can seem 'overwhelming' or even messy, not something you want to see with a piece of software intended for organising.  Also, I design systems on a daily basis and one of the first things I was taught was that consistency is vital to reduce cognitive load and I agree with the original poster when they say it is a pain to have to re remember where everything is when switching from mac to pc and back again.

 

What I would like to stress though, is that this message is not meant as a dig but purely as a constructive criticism.  I think Evernote is great, especially for free, and it ticks all of the boxes I need it to but I just don't like the Windows interface and the inconsistencies.  If they were to be resolved I would probably use it more and go back to being a premium member

Hi. Welcome to the forum, and thanks for the feedback on the app.

Windows has had a list view on the side for a long time, but I think only members of this forum know about it

Ctrl+Shift+F5

[tatty27 0]

Thanks for that GrumpyMonkey, that's one off the list 

[Burnett 3]

I couldn't agree more with the original poster's feedback. I find working with Evernote becoming increasingly difficult across my ipad, iphone, and MacBook Air. Doing basic things seem to take relearning and searching over and over. Different formats, continual changes that make it difficult to quickly access and do what I need to do, search that doesn't automatically check for note titles first, etc. I am researching other options to switch. It's becoming too frustrating using Evernote. :-(

[txarno 2]

The original poster had a valid point, and Grumpymonkey's reply is typical of Evernote's approach to the UI development, i.e, ignore the customer user experience and let a bunch separate programming teams lead the way. Imagine if Apple or Microsoft took this approach, with a different UI for each platform. What a mess that would create. Also has someone explained to you Evernote guys that the tablet UI is virtually unusable? I have lots of tags. I click on one, go to the relevant notes, then when I hit the back button to go back the tag list, I get a bunch of associated tags I don't want, and when I go back again, I am back to the top of the tag list rather than my original place in the tag list. Do you test this stuff on consumers before you release it?

[dlu 628]

The original poster had a valid point, and Grumpymonkey's reply is typical of Evernote's approach to the UI development, i.e, ignore the customer user experience and let a bunch separate programming teams lead the way. Imagine if Apple or Microsoft took this approach, with a different UI for each platform. What a mess that would create. Also has someone explained to you Evernote guys that the tablet UI is virtually unusable? I have lots of tags. I click on one, go to the relevant notes, then when I hit the back button to go back the tag list, I get a bunch of associated tags I don't want, and when I go back again, I am back to the top of the tag list rather than my original place in the tag list. Do you test this stuff on consumers before you release it?

 

Which tablet platform are you referring to?

[Bobman 0]

I think we are confusing UI parity with functional parity.

 

Is it frustrating to use a single product on different platforms and see different UI paradigms? Yes, it is. But I don't think Apple, Microsoft, and Google are going to unify any time soon so we as users just have to live with it.

 

For example, screen layout (whether the list of notes is on the left, the top, or a different screen altogether). If I'm on a phone (iOS or Android) I don't want/need a list of notes on-screen while I'm editing because the screen is too small. On a tablet? I *might* have enough room, so it would nice if it was optional there. These are examples of the different platform teams deciding what makes sense on that platform to match how the paradigms of that platform.

 

As far as functional parity, I've got lots of bones to pick (how come I can only insert a table in the desktop client but not the web or on Android?) but that is not the point of this thread, I don't think.

 

*My* contribution (way up on top a little off-topic) was related to UI related and pointed at Skitch. They made a conscious decision to have the *same* UI on *all* platforms, which I think is plain stupid. Like it or not, I spend most of my time in Windows, so I don't want to see an application that looks like a Mac window. Argue all you want that Mac is better (or Android or whatever) and I might even agree with you, but it sticks out like a sore thumb on the platform I'm using right now.

 

Should Evernote be more conscious of their users? Sure, but don't confuse UI vs. functional parity. Is it valid to compare them to Apple or Microsoft? Not in this universe. Even MS apps on Mac look more like Mac apps than MS apps (so I'm told). Don't even get me started about the POS that is OneNote on Android.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

The original poster had a valid point, and Grumpymonkey's reply is typical of Evernote's approach to the UI development, i.e, ignore the customer user experience and let a bunch separate programming teams lead the way. Imagine if Apple or Microsoft took this approach, with a different UI for each platform. What a mess that would create. Also has someone explained to you Evernote guys that the tablet UI is virtually unusable? I have lots of tags. I click on one, go to the relevant notes, then when I hit the back button to go back the tag list, I get a bunch of associated tags I don't want, and when I go back again, I am back to the top of the tag list rather than my original place in the tag list. Do you test this stuff on consumers before you release it?

Hi. GrumpyMonkey is just a user, not an employee of Evernote, or involved with the UI development. GrumpyMonkey has said on many occasions here on the forums that Evernote definitely needs to do a better job of establishing a consistent user experience across platforms. I think GrumpyMonkey in this thread (1) agreed with the OP, (2) explained the design philosophy at Evernote without justifying or arguing for it, and (3) suggested that Evernote unify the experience more. GrumpyMonkey definitely did not advocate ignoring the customer!!!

I am guessing that you are on the iPad. There is definitely room for improvement. Please see my feedback thread in the forums and put your thoughts there. Developers don't always respond (like dlu just did), but they read the user forums (obviously, as dlu is), so your input will be considered (though, of course, the developers may choose to go a different direction).

[Blu 1]

I am a paying customer.

All I would like to know is why do Mac Users get Fancy Covers for their Notebooks

and Windows Users get Generic White Boxes ?

We pay the same as Mac Users.

I think regardless of what setup one has, it should be the same for everyone.

I am really disheartened. When i went Premium, that is what I was expecting.

Evernote, what is up with that?

Does this mean, if I want to see those Book Covers, I have to go buy a Mac?

OR... design my own covers and sell them to EN.

 

 

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I am a paying customer.

All I would like to know is why do Mac Users get Fancy Covers for their Notebooks

and Windows Users get Generic White Boxes ?

We pay the same as Mac Users.

I think regardless of what setup one has, it should be the same for everyone.

I am really disheartened. When i went Premium, that is what I was expecting.

Evernote, what is up with that?

Does this mean, if I want to see those Book Covers, I have to go buy a Mac?

OR... design my own covers and sell them to EN.

 

I'll trade you book covers (which I never look at) for your interface, sort options, and view options! I won't trade my Mac, though

[Blu 1]

 

I am a paying customer.

All I would like to know is why do Mac Users get Fancy Covers for their Notebooks

and Windows Users get Generic White Boxes ?

We pay the same as Mac Users.

I think regardless of what setup one has, it should be the same for everyone.

I am really disheartened. When i went Premium, that is what I was expecting.

Evernote, what is up with that?

Does this mean, if I want to see those Book Covers, I have to go buy a Mac?

OR... design my own covers and sell them to EN.

 

I'll trade you book covers (which I never look at) for your interface, sort options, and view options! I won't trade my Mac, though

 

OK. Where do you live? I'll catch the next bus outta town.