My remarks purely seen from a usability standpoint when using it on mobile/small screens
What is the main focus of wanikani? Items that are related to that focus should be directly visible and accessible.
If the main focus of wanikani is to look up kanji/vocabulary, then the new design did its job because the first interactive element on the page is the search bar.
However, the about page says the following: “WaniKani is a web application for learning Japanese kanji and vocabulary”. In that case the dashboard should have the lessons and reviews as the most important visible elements.
With the previous design it took 2 clicks/touches(reviews -> start session) to start a review(which IMO is already 1 more than wanted and needed). With the new design it is now 3(menu -> reviews -> start session) and it is hidden in a collapsed menu. My suggestion to improve it would be to (re)introduce the lessons and reviews buttons on the dashboard, but to link them directly to a new lesson/review session instead of linking them to the past session summary. That way, you would go from a 3 click/touch situation to a 1 click/touch situation
I’m glad they’re going to appropriate the lessons and reviews buttons in portrait mode. Any word on if they’re going to bring back the level indicator as well?
I don’t mind change. It’s just frustrating when the changes cause previously easily accessible information to become tedious to find. Once they alleviate this I wouldn’t mind the new header. Sure, the logo takes up more space by displaying the website’s name when they could just use a circular logo, but as long as I can see lessons, reviews, and current level, then I don’t mind the rest.
Honestly I wouldn’t mind something like this. This is 930 pixels wide, about half of my monitor’s width. It displays everything in a nice and compact manner and the logo isn’t wasting precious space. If the resolution is even smaller, then you could use a hamburger menu to display radicals, kanji, vocabulary, and account. Of course, whatever color for levels.
To add to what has already been said I really liked having the kanji there before and was kinda looking forward to learning to read it. I’m sure it only said wanikani but it was just…idunno I thought it was a nice touch and something I’d like to see implemented again in some way.
As someone new to the site and learning Japanese in general I felt that gave it a certain vibe? Sorry if this could be clearer, not doing well with communication today.
I don’t think levels should have as much screen space as lessons and reviews. They could stay with levels as is, but show your current level next to account
Looks great. They’ve made the logo simpler, more easily recognizable, and marketable. The navigation hasn’t really suffered and the animations make the website feel very modern and ergonomic. It seems to be an improvement over the previous one in every manner.
I don’t really like it either but it’s certainly made worse by the fact that I’ve been using a Stylus dark theme and the header is broken, definitely stands out and burns my eyes.
Not really anyone’s fault, but I would appreciate an alternative blackish design easy on the eyes. Same for the forum . (Edit : Nevermind, I’m stupid, I found the black theme for the forum )
It’s interesting to see the little tweaks that keep happening - now it has boxes around the lesson and review buttons, and the color is matching purple:
tbh, I’ll probably never see it anyway because I always keep my window maximized, but if they did, they’d have to add a relish speck to indicate something, too.
It definitely looks better now. They also made it highlight your level when opening the levels panel, too. It’d still be nice to see on the header itself, but as long as it’s accessible, which it seems fair to say it is now, then the new design isn’t looking as bad anymore. It actually feels more stylish than the old.
. (Edit : Nevermind, I’m stupid, I found the black theme for the forum 
)
