Allow including the full email address of in the account sidebar to prevent confusion

[mrshll1001]

Checklist

• I have used the search function to see if someone else has already submitted the same feature request.
• I will describe the problem with as much detail as possible.
• This issue only contains a request for one single feature, not multiple (related) features.

App version

8.0

Problem you are trying to solve

The new menu design makes it difficult to see which account I am selecting, resulting in me needing to cycle through multiple accounts to find the one that I want to select.

This is caused by the fact that accounts are now selected via a "thumbnail" style circle with some initials in them. I'm not sure how the initials are generated, perhaps from the domain name of the account? If a user has multiple accounts under the same or similar domain names then the initials will be duplicated across accounts adding to the confusion. The account colour coding can help but puts additional mental burden on the user to remember these, when the interface should be assisting the user in the task of selecting the account to view.

I feel that this is a slight usability regression compared to previous versions, which clearly displayed the full address of the account to select via a picker.

Suggested solution

Redesign the menu so that each account's full email address is displayed during the selection process. This will prevent users from having to cycle through accounts to get the one they want.

Screenshots / Drawings / Technical details

I suggest removing the vertical sidebar of "thumbnails" and replacing the top view of the menu bar (containing the current account address and name) with a picker. This will accomplish two tasks with a single UI element: (1) the picker displays accounts unambiguously to support the task of selecting an account (2) the currently selected item provides a visual indication of which account is selected and gives the user an idea of the internal state of the system.

[kewisch]

Would #8381 (comment) alleviate your concerns? A major redesign in the account selection would require substantially more work, but could certainly be useful when more space is available, such as on tablets.

[mrshll1001]

Thanks for such a swift reply! That means a lot for such a busy project.

The comment you've linked to does sound like a move in the right direction but my core issue is that I think the "thumbnail" style account picker is maladapted for purpose because it shifts additional burden onto the user rather than using the space effectively to communicate with the user.

Systems should ideally support recognition rather than making the user recall certain elements, even initials/colours.

I understand that there would be substantial work to redesign the look of the menu in the accounts section, and therefore this is not likely to be resolved quickly due to that.

but could certainly be useful when more space is available, such as on tablets.

Agreed, but I think an eventual redesign would be useful on smaller devices such as smartphones. I understand that the view components are likely quite complex and thus represent quite a lot of effort; but chopping away the vertical sidebar to free up some room gives back some horizontal space with which to display a full email address in a picker component.

As noted I understand this is a lot of work, so I really empathise if this needs to be closed as "won't fix" based on the work you've already done in resolving the other issue. However it would be appreciated if this could be communicated to whomever is responsible for the design/UI/UX, to see what their analysis is, for when the interface is updated in the future (e.g. when a new Android design language is released etc.)

[kewisch]

I agree that there are scenarios where displaying the full account name would work better, though we also recognize that some users may prefer a more succinct identifier as it is currently. The planned addition of customizable images should offer flexibility while keeping the interface streamlined. We’ll revisit the account picker’s design in 2025, keeping these considerations in mind.