Thread by @RobertHaisfield

Yesterday I was given a demo of @codexeditor. Absolutely wacky, in all of the right ways. Everything is an entity on a graph that can have labeled relationships with other entities. The UX is basically creating a new desktop OS in your browser for managing all info on that graph.

When I say everything can be an entity, I mean it... text, images, video, audio, websites. Iian is leaning into workspace model, allowing saved arrangements of what you have on the screen to revisit later. Those are also graph entities you can link to.

https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1267599197412286464?s=20

Whether it will see broad success or not, I have no idea. It's the sort of thing where you can only wrap your head around it so much without using it. It's insanely ambitious in doing a million things, so we'll see what people will actually do with it

https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1254554242183917568

But make no mistake - this is shaping out to be a professional research tool.

Tired: @Superhuman of X
Wired: @Photoshop of X

The sort of thing where some knowledge workers simply accept the usage of this tool as a given for their job, and derive great pleasure in using it.

Codex is rethinking so many core concepts to UX and data structure and operating systems in novel ways it's hard to keep up with. It's a powerful demo, but I'd have to play around with it myself to know if the ideas are actually good. Keep an eye on Codex! Beta upcoming.

Regardless of its outcomes as a product, it will be a valuable research contribution to the tools for thought space.

The last demo he showed me was in March. It's insane how much progress has been made both conceptually and technically in that time period. Just waiting to see what happens next when he opens it up to more users and is able to see what people do (or don't do) with the tools.

I'd say my main concern has to do with how much user involvement is necessary in order for Codex to transform the user's effort into meaningful outcomes. I could annotate everything and name all of the relationships. Is it worthwhile to do that? robhaisfield.com/notes/user-inv…

To that, Iian responded that when he releases the beta, one of the main things that he'll be looking out for is when things are more complicated than they need to be. If users are trying to do something cool that requires 5 steps, he'll ask how he could make it 2 or 3.

Additionally, he raised the concept of "Tacit annotation." Effortful annotation is powerful, but you could annotate such that "it just happens" as you go. He wants both to be valuable. This is a solid approach! Low floor, wide walls, high ceiling. gordonbrander.com/pattern/low-fl…

Damn it, I forgot to ask him to demo email for me.

https://twitter.com/codexeditor/status/1305782241495146497