v1.63.3 - A small design change - personally not happy with that
Why do things that are already wonderful always have to keep getting changed? I was extremely happy with the beautiful, clean, uncluttered design of Capacities. But now, unfortunately, the first changes are already starting.
One of the most important items for navigation, namely, the sections in the left sidebar - why have the titles of these sections suddenly been given a smaller font size (12px instead of previously 14px)? This font size is even smaller than that of the titles of the object items that they contain (which are 14px).
These expandable Sections were one of the reasons why I moved from Anytype to Capacities - I love how easy they are expandable - no fiddeling to hit a tiny arrow with the mouse cursor, but they are comfortably clickable on the whole width of the section title. Expand, collapse, expand, collapse - we do this all the time, it’s the main navigation.
But now, even though the total line height of the Sections including its padding, has remained the same, the psychological impression of importance and ease of use is diminished by the smaller font size.
Now, when many sections are open, the most important navigation elements have the least visual weight!
For me as a user, this design change, albeit looking minor, is unnecessary (since the sections can be expanded, there is no space issue that needs to be compensated), disadvantageous (as described), and overall unsatisfactory.
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Beth - May I ask why you changed the font size in the desktop app (section title 12px, section items 14px) while in the web app both are 15px which I'm totally fine with. Will this design last or will you also change that in the future?
It may sound ridiculous, but to me this isn’t a minor issue - it’s a big deal, because the design I found in Capacities was exactly what appealed to me. We use the PKM tool we chose several times a day, and it’s also a very personal matter. I love Capacities’ well-thought-out, clean, and user-friendly design, but the decision to make the main navigation items less prominent and visually less accessible is not a good one.
So, can we at least count on the typography of the sections in the web version staying as it is now?
Any information on that would be very welcome.
đź«°
… actually agreeing that sometimes less constant movement, especially in non-core but habituated parts is preferable/more helpful.
It can a) feel erratic; b) insert unnecessary irritation for users on a space that should radiate calmness and accentuating habituation.
It´s also about communicating style (in the invisible but constant exchange with the (user) community.
Or maybe some better rapport system w/ community of users would help here…
Aside from that stylistic note:
I also second the comment on substance (and have also expressed that before): I feel (section) headings shouldn't be (much) smaller than list-content. Question of information hierarchy and principles of UI/UX. If one wants to make things more 'decent', maybe consider making the section titles bigger but 'flatten' them by restained color (grey etc.)?!
Beth Were you able to get more information on this?
The web app displays the sections in their usual size, which is very clear and visually appealing. If someone like me uses these sections as their primary navigation — which they are well-suited for — the good visibility of the section labels is crucial.
I hope that the font size of the section labels in the desktop app will be adjusted back to match that of the web app, and not the other way around.