Discussion on new UI in right hand side of Jira tickets

[Mark Thompson]

I'd like to see what Jira users think about the new right hand list of editable fields in the right hand side of the Jira window.  I'd like users to be able to comment before Jira rolls this out and forces users to upgrade.

I feel it is horrible.  Some of the issues:

1.  I can't easily navigate to the fields I use on a regular basis because they have no default value and may not be visible without considerable effort.  The current tab structure allows me to get to my fields easily with two clicks edit/click tab.  Scrolling through a giant list of fields is not user friendly

2.  I can now only easily see if I am watching an issue.  I need to add watchers.  Seeing the number of current watchers and being able to navigate easily to a full list is something I use.

3.  I just in general find it much more difficult to find the fields I need to see in the right pane.  I immediately shift off this view back to the original view every chance I get.

Who is doing these designs?  Do they actually use the software in a development environment.  Are you trying to kill Jira as a useful product for a tax write off?  I'm just not seeing how anyone can think what you are doing is better.

[Kimberly Deal _Columbus ACE_]

@Mark Thompson Hey there!

I am quite in in agreement with you on many points about this redesign.  It was quite a shock to wake up to it right before traveling to Summit.  I sincerely though my Jira instance was broken!  So, I really wasn't sure what to think of it heading off to Summit, except, "Woah, this is *not* going to work for me and a few other users I know."

I watched the announcements in the Keynotes and took a look at what their thoughts were behind the redesign.  I still couldn't see how this was going to work for some companies/teams.  So I went and chatted with the Jira Team on the expo floor.  I was able to show them how one of the teams I work with is using Jira to plan for events, Conferences, Training, etc.  This new design is not going to be useful for them at all, as what they use Jira for is more about information tracking and reporting than Team Collaboration.

Which, after thinking about it *a lot* since Summit and my User Group last night, is what they are really trying to move towards.  Which is kinda like a *duh* moment, right.   I mean they have been marketing and promoting Teams, Team Collaboration, Team Playbook etc and it really makes sense that they would be driving towards those goals with their products as well.  I can see where they are hoping to get everyone interacting and moving work forward, as they stated in their talks at Summit.  

What's problematic for me with this, is that they are taking a tool that they have left very open for configuration and molding it individual team usage.  So a lot of companies and teams have made it into a tool that is customized to them and the work they need to do, everything from development to HR onboarding to wedding/event planning.  It does all of that well, and they have really encouraged us to use the tool as we need to.  

This change really makes it feel like they are taking that customizable and creative way of using their tool and shoehorning us into using it in a way they envision us, and I am not convinced that this is going to be a good fit for all and I'm hoping that they will set a way for us to be able to use this as a project type, so we can continue to use the tool in the manner that best fits our Teams needs.

[Mark Thompson]

I agree with what you are saying.  They have a vision but they have to understand that some people use Atlassian because of Jira.  Should Jira become unusable the entire Atlassian offering is something I will no longer consider at future companies.  My biggest problem is they are not listening to their users.  The tool is becoming harder to use.  I get annoyed more and more every time I have to click "see the old view".  I've already clicked it and given feedback.  Transitioning to any new issue or using the back button does not save the setting.  It's easy to add a cookie to maintain a user setting yet they have not done so which makes my user experience horrible.  

Oh and I always use it for a bit before I complain.  I'm willing to try it out.  I did and I don't like it.  There are basic UI items that are just poorly designed like not having the ability to scroll the fields in the right pane and maintain your current view.  It's just difficult to perform even basic actions.

[Kimberly Deal _Columbus ACE_]

I hear what you are saying.  My management is super keen to get us onto the cloud platform and I have to keep working with them for us to stay on Server, as I am convinced we would never survive the end user questions/complaints/problems with the constant changes on Cloud.  I believe we would wind up evaluating other products and potentially moving to something that was a better fit.

I also get the feeling the customer concerns are not being heard and responded to in a way that makes us feel listened to.  If my thoughts on why they are moving in the direction they are, are correct, it certainly feels like being left behind to sort out the whys on my own.  I don't feel like I was brought along for that change with them.  It certainly would be easier to make engineering and architecture choices if I had.

[Mark Thompson]

Maybe you should have them read the Jira comments from the last change where the cloud people complained and were ignored.  Reverting was only available on server.  I believe you will lose the choice if you go to cloud.  

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

There's a lot of comments about the change of layout - the champions have been trying to tag them together at https://community.atlassian.com/t5/tag/new-ui-2018/tg-p might be a useful link for anyone who wants to have a look at those discussions

[Mark Thompson]

added the tag

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Sorry, I was not clear - the layout change is a different topic!  We're having problems where people say "new view" and we don't know whether the conversation is about the UI change or the Issue view change.

[Mark Thompson]

This is issue view change I'll take off the tag.

[Alex Kovshovik]

We just migrated to Jira from Github issues: mostly for workflows, sprints, reports and time tracking (for accounting). I thought Jira always sucked this bad and everyone uses it because they have to, but the more I search the community threads - the more I understand: Jira UI feels bad and slow because of the "new UI".

I clicked the "See old view" link at the top right and everything is wonderful! just the way I like it. Jira, please make it possible to enable Old UI permanently in the site administration.

[Mark Thompson]

Hence the reason I posted this.  I want people like you to post here so they are aware how badly this change will impact users.  I posted in my local hipchat with this link.  The first response was "That new UI sucks".  I'm just hoping that Jira is tracking how many times people click "See the old view".  I'm currently doing it at least 50 times a day and I hate it.  

[Alex Kovshovik]

Mark, I'll make sure to do that too now - just in case Atlassian folks are really watching.

BTW, I don't see a way to like the posts here. Maybe my user level is still too low.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

"Discussions" don't have answers or likes.

[Mark Thompson]

@Alex Kovshovik - I figured out a way to get around looking at the old view.  Read the tickets in email and stop using Jira UI unless I absolutely have to.

[Alex Kovshovik]

@Mark Thompson haha, I wish I could do that. We work in Jira a lot, need to open things quickly and update them. I often create issues in Jira, so I can't get away with just using email :)

Email notifications format is actually pretty great: it shows what changed, etc.

[Mark Thompson]

That was sarcasm.  I have to go into Jira all the time which is why I am so vehemently opposed to this change.  It will impact me even more if I can't revert to the old view.  I have not actually investigated a new tool for years.  I am now.

[Alex Kovshovik]

Yep, I get it. Please share what you find. I checked the GitLab.com - it looks very promising! Has most everything that we need and most of the stuff comes included - no need to use costly plugins.

[Rohan Sherrard]

Have been trying to implement the new JIRA at my new job. My gosh it's awful...

They've taken so so much away from the platform and given so little back in return.

I cannot fathom what their thought processes are to have mangled JIRA so badly.

[Barbara Kirkwood]

We have been using JIRA cloud for sometime now and the old GUI worked exceptional well for us for managing projects, bug reporting and resolution, etc. This new GUI is so wrong. The order of the comments is wrong (and you cannot quickly fix this), formatting text is almost impossible, colours are screwy, creating subtasks is a pain and so many more issues. I keep clicking the "See the old view" for ever task I open and on most days, this could be 50 or more, so this just adds more work to an already busy schedule (not to mention constantly reminding me how much I dislike the new view) Please oh please let us choose to stick with the old view if we want.

[Mark Thompson]

We will see if they listen.  I will be done with posting or promoting Jira if they push this new UI down our throat.  Well maybe one last rant on my way out  8-)

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Don't go!  I quite enjoy rants!

Ok, mostly the ones I tend to agree with, admittedly, or the ones where people "give themselves enough rope to hang themselves with".  But most (and probably all) of what you've said about the UI for Atlassian Cloud falls firmly into "I agree".  So I'll miss you if you do go.

[Mark Thompson]

Did Jira actually listen?  I don't see the new UI on by default anymore.  Happy Days!  

[Alex Kovshovik]

I still see the new ugly UI by default. Is it a setting that you can change now? I would gladly go with the Old UI if I could. I got tired of clicking "See old UI".

[Mark Thompson]

And then depression set in.  New UI isn't applied on a direct search.  It's only applied when I click a Jira link in email.  Guess what 95% of my review requires.  I thought Jira was actually listening.  Should have known better.

[Alex Kovshovik]

Hey @Mark Thompsonit looks like they've listened: they added the ability to disable the "New View" permanently: click the "..." on an open issue and select "Turn off" option - it'll take you to personal preferences where you can turn it off. It's been great so far!

[Mark Thompson]

@Alex Kovshovik - nope they didn't listen.  The ability to turn off Jira labs has always been there.  I want the ability to apply see the old view to all issues.  Turning off Jira labs is a bad thing.  Turn that off any you'll never know when Jira pushes out these types of changes until they force you to upgrade in cloud.  Basically it is like putting on a blindfold, walking toward a cliff, and expecting never to fall off.  8-)

[Alex Kovshovik]

Ah, that's a very good point. When I turned off the "Labs" - they did ask me for feedback and I explained it there. I will hope for the best. I hope they know that if they suddenly release it to general public - it'll cause a riot.

The Old UI is SO good! Feels like a breath of fresh air. I can finally see the issue attributes in tabs that I configured, the sidebar in the backlog now fits a lot more info at a glance. Much better use of screen real estate. Even the issue description editor lets me use special tags and doesn't try to format my input on the fly - LOVE IT :)

[Mark Thompson]

I may turn it off anyway because it is annoying me but I really do want to see when they make any new changes.  I'm not sure if they will make a new setting or just make modifications under this same setting.

[Melanie Pasztor]

Also only turns off for your own profile, no option to turn it off for everyone. 

[Alex Kovshovik]

Yep, but I "sold" the old UI to my entire team, so they all disabled it in their profiles at once. Jira asked for feedback and they all wrote: "Alex told me to."

[Melanie Pasztor]

The new view is overly unhelpful, and kills any ability to present the information we need. It is literally going backwards, and reinforces my concern regarding Jira Cloud of how these features are forced on companies and people, nullifying all of the work in configuring for our uses. It is great that Atlassian as these goals and vision, but it and they need to be flexible and recognize that others do not share it, or do not see or use their products the same way they expect us to companies/people to use it as. 

Unfortunately, this is not just Atlassian. There is this trend among many companies of this weird need and fascination of 'simplicity' by redesigning their software products to look nice, clean, and simple, both front and back ends, at the cost of removing functionality.

Just, like, Stahp, please. Stop trying to be cool Atlassian, and stick to practicality. 

[Zachary Jones]

My team is having a horrible time, as many cannot switch-off the new UI.   They love the look of my jira layout, and it looks like i am in some club where things work, and they are not. 

It is definitely making me look bad: I convinced everyone to trust me and move the company to jira.  Now everyone hates this new UI and I and losing control of the energy of the teams. 

It's turning into a kind of black-eye.  If I had to do it all over again, I'd look at another tool first.  I hate to say it; as I've loved jira for 8yr or so.  I hope new UI gets turned into a 'lab default off' feature, and it can die on the vine inside 'next gen projects'

[Mark Thompson]

Are you in classic and just seeing the new UI? 

1.  You can click on your avatar in the lower left corner of the Jira web page

2.  Click personal settings

3.  Scroll down and turn off the Jira labs feature.  

That may work to turn off the new UI for those that don't like it.  

[Zachary Jones]

Yes, that is what i am doing, and I'm directing the teams to do the same, since so many have this 'limited' UI view.  But everyone from Atlassian seems to be saying that I will lose access to this Labs feature.   If/when that happens, my teams will be apeshit on me again.  

You missed your audience with the. wrong focus group design, when testing.  You need to own that, and reboot what are the default fields in the new UI tech.

[Mark Thompson]

You can migrate to server.  On server you have more control.  I believe there is no plan to force users off classic even on cloud.  I asked about this in a previous post.  The Atlassian team indicated classic will remain but I'd take that with a grain of salt on cloud because that could change as more users adopt nextgen.  I don't really think you need to worry in the near future.  Server users have classic so they really can't totally turn classic off just yet.  Server users are typically not forced to upgrade.  

[Melanie Pasztor]

There is a reason some companies use Cloud rather than forking the funds for a server, its maintenance, and possibly someone dedicated to do that. Or funds to pay for a third-party to host it. While I am one that would much prefer the server version, it is not practical for some companies. New backwards UI is only making the cloud option impractical and unusable as well. 

[Zachary Jones]

The value of the product drops rapidly if i need to fool around with self-management.  Pushes the adoption to a larger scale of company.  Maybe they want to just be a SaaS for enterprise and toy-use startups that could use anything else.  Doesn't sound like a good brand foundation

[Mark Thompson]

@Zachary Jones @Melanie Pasztor - you guys are preaching to the choir.  I agree.  The cloud offering is pretty cheap so I'm willing to put up with less functional behavior but not changing the UI or behavior without my consent.  That's my big sticking point.  I've administered some other systems that are way better but way more expensive as well.  I would hope that Jira would at least listen to that one point and not force users to upgrade on a system that is critical to almost every engineering group that uses it.

[Barbara Kirkwood]

Thanks so much Mark.  Turning off the Jira labs feature worked.  Woohoo!

[laurence]

Is there any way to combine this thread with this one? Otherwise you are missing a lot of the valuable feedback ;)

[Bruno]

The right side layout is really bad. But I can't turn it off or change. Anyone discovered a way how to solve this?

[Zachary Jones]

every person in the team/org needs to individually go to the lower-left corner menu, Settings, and under Labs turn off the 'new issue view'.   This is what is screwing you up.

[Bruno]

Thank you @Zachary Jones for the instructions!

I've turned Off the "Labs" option but I'm using the Jira cloud version, maybe it's not working on this version because the layout is still the same :-/
Nothing changed..

Kind regards

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

You're mixing up the new issue view with the different layouts on Cloud and Server/DC.

The Cloud layout with the "right side" is the only option for Cloud, you can't get the better Server layout on Cloud.

[Anita Suri]

I find the right side column to be very cluttered which seems unnecessary when there's so much unused space on the main left column. In the Configure section you should all the ability to add more fields to the left column.