Stay Tuned! The new look of Podio is almost here.
Dear Users,
You asked for it and we made it happen! The new Podio UI is just round the corner.
We understand that our customers have been longing for more Podio improvements in 3 major domains: performance, UI/UX and new features. We are glad to have been able to address some of the calculation performance issues recently and continue exploring on more such improvements. In parallel, Podio team has also been revisiting our user interface, updating it to a new and more modern theme, that also aligns Podio UI with Citrix brand bringing us closer to the larger portfolio of Citrix products.
We have conducted multiple customer interviews to understand user sentiments about the new look. This new look has been open for testing by hundreds of Beta Users. We also did a customer facing Webinar in Jul 2021 giving sneak peak into our new look and taking feedback on what customers like vs dislike. If you have been part of the webinar, we're sure you have been eagerly waiting for this release. If you were not, then you have a surprise in store!
Excited? This is how you can switch to the new look.
- Click on your "My Account" icon.
- You will see a new link "Switch to new look" on the pull-down menu.
- Click to switch and that's it! Start using our new UI.
- Once on the new UI, you will see the link has changed to "Switch to old look". This allows you to switch between both the UIs till you get comfortable with the new UI.
P.S.: This "Switch to new look" option is only available for the web users. The mobile app users will be automatically upgraded to the new look on the latest version.
What's new for users?
- New and fresh teal theme: "Fresh", "Modern", "2021" define the customer sentiments from users who helped us test this new look. Our new teal theme with new fonts gives us a fresh visual look while simultaneously aligning to the new Citrix branding on both web and mobile apps.
- Modern and retina ready icons: All icons are being updated with retina-ready icons, while preserving the essence of what each icon means. A one-to-one mapping between icons in old and new UI will be maintained.
- More category colors: With our new color palette, we now support 16 category colors that gives you more flexibility with categorizing your data items, meetings etc. The old 8 colors are mapped to the 8 lighter shades of the new palette.
- Modernized components: Alert Modals, Charts, Polls and multiple other components are being updated as per modern standards
- Mobile apps are being updated across all platforms: Android, iOS and iPad.
- Email templates are being redesigned and consolidated into a standardized pattern for different types of email notifications.
- App Market and Extension pages are also planned to be modernized soon.
Here's a small trailer of our new look.
User Testimonials from Beta Testing:
"Love the new colors available for categories looking great so far 😎" - Damien Ruggieri, Citrix Podio Partner
"For the elements I use, I am finding it a lot crisper and easier on the eye. The categories are certainly standing out better for me now in a list. Overall enjoying it so far." Stephen McCurry, Podio Beta User
"Kudos - very smooth and clean UI 🤩 " - Caroline Vrauwdeunt, Citrix Podio Partner
"I appreciate the effort. It shows maybe you are working towards listening to your customers more" - Feedback during Customer Webinar
Is that it?
Of course not! This new UI is a stepping stone for many more additions to follow. The story does not end here. Our current effort has been focussed on the visual look and feel of the UI, without disrupting the usability. We do not want our users to go through an all new learning curve through a major UX overhaul all of a sudden. So we plan on making it a progressive change with both minor and major feature updates over the upcoming year.
Will we always have 2 looks to choose between?
- We will continue supporting the old look of our UI (blue theme) over the next couple of months only (as a transition period), and then deprecate it.
- For the next few months, you will have the flexibility to choose which look you want to work with. However, we believe and are almost certain that you would love our new look and not want to switch back. :)
- IMPORTANT: Any new features additions and UX changes we do from now on, will be supported only on the new look.
P.S.: Only Podio web UI is going to support these 2 looks. Mobile apps, once ready with the new theme, will not have 2 options to choose from.
Release Timeline:
- The new look on our web UI will be released this week (It's now LIVE!).
- The new teal theme is already available for the Android app users and will be available for iOS users soon too. More exciting updates to follow on mobile apps in an upcoming Product news item.
We really hope, with this news and new look, we are able to bring in a smile on your face, as bright as our new color palette 😄
Eager to know how you like the new look! Please comment below to share your feedback.
Cheers and Stay Tuned!
Pallabi - Podio Product Manager
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I'm sorry but the contrasts between the colors and the background are too small, making it difficult to see some of the differences, and no support for dark mode witch is less stressful for the eyes when working many howers in front of the screen.
There are many UX studies supporting what I am writing, please consider implementing support for dark theam.
Ayal Shapira
UX Lecturer in Tel-aviv univercity. -
Hi Ayal איל שפירא,
Thanks for sharing your feedback. There are some aspects on dark mode that we are investigating. Further, all our designs have been taking into account accessibility best practices as well. But would love to gather more ideas from you. Would you like to be part of our Beta User community and help test any new features we build sharing more UX perspective?
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Sorry guys, appreciate the UI updates (looks good) and especially the calculation speed improvements but i can't handle looking at that header bar all day with that teal color🤮. Hopefully we will have some color choice options before the old theme is discontinued ...dark mode would be good. Cheers Alex
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Thank you for improvements, but please pick a font which supports more alphabets, like Cyrillic, Hebrew, Greek, Arabic etc.
Unfortunately new theme looks ok only for languages with Latin letters, which seems the only set your new Public Sans font supports. This is wired in 2021 when there is a lot of fonts with open license and extended UTF-support (like Open Sans and so on).
Or at least please add a sans-serif font as a fallback in CSS for HTML property:
change font-family: Public Sans to font-family: Public Sans, sans-serif (in old theme it was font-family: citrixsans,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif).
Without that a serif font is used by default in most browsers. And results of this mix of serif and sans-serif fonts are just ugly for multi-language texts and applications. See screenshots.
Hope this will be fixed :) -
Thank you Users for pouring in your thoughts, likes and dislikes about this new theme. Of course 'colour' by itself is a pretty subjective matter, so while our new and brighter color palette makes the UI look more modern for some, we completely understand that it might not turn out to be the best theme for others. Your feedback really matters and we will pass on the same to the relevant teams within Citrix.
In the meantime, would like share my 2 cents summarizing on the different concerns raised above:
Header Color
One common concern I see above is regarding the "light teal header". I would want to highlight that the teal shade in the header helps us align with the new Citrix brand. Further, based on our user research, we have gathered that it gives a fresh new and modern feel to the UI, something that is more 2021 as compared to the old blue we had. I may not have the right answer to "Why Citrix chose teal color for its brand". But fun fact: 'light teal symbolises creativity and provokes thinking' I feel this is something that aligns well with Citrix's inclination towards unlocking human potential and innovating.
Category Color Palette
Our new color palette contains 16 new colors, 8 in light and 8 in dark shades. The 8 category colors from the old theme have a 1-1 default mapping to the lighter 8 shades in the new theme. If that seems too light, will suggest try updating some of them to the darker 8 shades in case it helps.
Icons
We are definitely recording feedback from these comments. Will highlight the concern with the " quotation mark icon and we will get it fixed. For any future comments, always feel free to submit your feedback via a Podio support ticket and that will be re-routed to product team for necessary action.
Fonts
Thanks for highlighting this. We have escalated this concern internally and hope to hear back soon.
Dark Mode
This is not a top priority item on our roadmap currently, apart from some aspects of dark mode compatibility. Our major focus was to get you users a new UI look with updated styling first. But if we see this as a growing feature request similar to the comments I see above, we can definitely bump up its priority. We already have certain posts requesting for Dark Mode/theme in our Community page. Feel free to add more comments there to showcase the demand!
Thank you again for all your feedback. Keep them coming. And we will keep the improvements coming in to the product.
Cheers,
// Pallabi - Podio Product Manager
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Adam Chipman This is a user level setting. So users would need to voluntarily switch to the new look themselves. Organisation admins cannot control the same.
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Benedict Stalder This entire update has been focussed on a visual re-do and styling updates. We are also launching an update for our iPad app soon. However, that too would majorly be a UI update. Having said that, we do have web-mobile parity as one of the critical items on the roadmap, while drawing the fine line between flexibility and complexity on apps. Idea would be to keep the apps light-weight with only absolutely needed functionalities that are needed on the go. So we will need to first understand if app template modification is a common customer demand for our mobile and iPad apps or at least iPad apps specifically.
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Pallabi Patnaik, thank you. Over 40 million iPads are sold every year; you must see a growing number of users on web browsers on iPad. Logically, many people like me must use their iPads for everything when they are on the road - including modifying apps.
So far, we can't modify Podio app templates on the iPad, but we can modify workflows automation (Globiflow). It is hard to understand why.
- I don't really need a dedicated app, but if it is the only way to solve the problem, why not.
Am I alone needing this?
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Hey guys, congrats on de progress and all the enhancements you've made. I definitely like a lot of the improvements, for instance the new font, the new category style and colors, the new helper menu etc.
One thing I've been wanting for a super long time now, is a more compact view. We have Podio items that are so big, nobody can really see what's going on anymore. It would be amazing if we could collapse certain parts, and second, reduce the white space between fields on an item.
Have a look at the picture below, and see the unnecessary space taking between the phone number and the address. First of all, the "Add another" could easily be on the same line, or could only show on-hover.
Second, an address really doesn't need such massive space, because everybody is really familiar with the format. It would be much better to have a compact view there.
This goes on-and-on, I feel that at least 30% of space could be removed. And then, personally, I would love to have a compact view with everything being a bit smaller like Gmail has, but that's because I'm a power user.
Thanks! David
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Been using Podio since 2012 and as more of our friends are moving to the (UX-wise) fresher Asana we've been waiting for this a lot. Unfortunately the best thing with this update for me is the option to revert back to the old clearer look. Tip: Copy Asana and put the Citrix Colour Palette on it and you're good 👍
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I really like the new colour. The very similar (a bit darker) Sea Foam theme has been my Google colour for quite a long time.As a beta tester, I've been using the new design for a few weeks now and actually like it better every day.
As a beta tester, I've been using the new design for a few weeks now and like it better every day. And as a Podio consultant, I work in Podio all day.
Pallabi Patnaik Thank you for the explanation:But fun fact: 'light teal symbolises creativity and provokes thinking'
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I've been a Podio user for my personal life and business since 2013. I use it daily, often for hours at a time. I understand a company's need to rebrand, we've all done it. It's always a big shift and a shock for users, so the best you can do is to try and roll it out slowly and allow people time to adjust. That said, three things:
1. Teal. I am also not a fan of the teal. I get that it is the new Citrix look but the darker blue is a more neutral tone that is far more business-like. I have been looking at it eight years and never feel it distracts from the other, considerably more important items on the screen, such as my data, or the photos I use on my activity page to guide my team. I also spend years selecting colors for things. I agree, colors are subjective but there is much research on tonality and what I see is that my commanding 'red' is now a touch 'pink'. It no longer means what I asked it to mean. I see there is a darker tone 'red' (which looks more orange to me) but to use this I'd have to go through close to 100 apps (I have over a dozen workspaces) and modify the palettes of each.
I suppose asking you to change or adjust the teal is a no-win proposition because I suspect it's the founding color of the new Citrix re-brand, so we users are just going to have to 'deal'. But keep this in mind, from Canva.com:
Midnight Blue (an approximation of the current Podio blue)
What does midnight blue represent?
Midnight blue projects sophistication and elegance. Its link with formal occasions and royalty means it conveys confidence, power and authority, while its deep hue can also come across as dark and mysterious.
According to color psychology, blue is associated with trustworthiness and reliability. Dark shades of blue in particular are linked with authority and intelligence; midnight blue’s deep appearance is particularly likely to make this impression.
But because it is very close in appearance to black, midnight blue might also project qualities associated with that color. Black can be used to convey power, strength and formality—but it can also signify mourning and fear.
How to use midnight blue
Midnight blue is a versatile, timeless color. It has long served as an alternative to black in clothing. Its very dark hue means it can be treated as a neutral color and matched with most shades. In interior design, an accent of midnight blue can give a room a refined feel, but you should avoid painting an entire room the hue—its dark appearance could be oppressive in large doses.
In design, midnight blue can appear sensible and sophisticated. You might like to use it as a livelier alternative when all black would appear too severe.
Everything about the color Teal
Teal is a deep blue-green color, named for the colored area around the eye of the common teal bird. Its hex code is #008080.
Teal combines the calming properties of blue with the renewal qualities of green. It is a revitalizing and rejuvenating color that also represents open communication and clarity of thought. For Tibetan monks, teal is symbolic of the infinity of the sea and sky, while it is the color of truth and faith for Egyptians.
Teal pops with bright white and coral, and works well with cream, navy, browns, and pinks. It also sets off metallic colors, such as silver and gold.
This says to me that a darker blue is a more appropriate, commanding and grounding color for business. Teal is a more calming, spiritual color. I like my cooler, spiritual colors folks, but this is business not a yoga app.
2. The height of the new teal header bar. This is a biggie for me! I spent most of my days on a 13" laptop. I have spent hours hours moving around fields to ensure that I can see as much of my important data on the screen without scrolling as possible. The current 'midnight blue' Podio header bar is thin and demands little space on my screen. Your new 'teal' header bar is ever so much longer in height, just enough that I have lost precious and valuable screen space. Is there a need for it to be taller in height than the current header bar? Perhaps a happy compromise for those of us not a fan of teal would be to reduce it in height so that it matches the current header bar, or perhaps is just a tiny bit more prominent to give it that 'new' feel? I get that you need to make this change but please consider reducing the height just a smidge. It unnecessarily consumes too much of the page. And for what purpose? Most of us spend very little time using icons in the header bar - serious Podio users go to their data. Go ahead, compare the new and the old side by side on a laptop screen (I'm sure you did). You'll see how it eats up more space. Thoughts?
3. The bold icons in the item header bar. I am not going to nit-pick on the icons, others have spoken up and they are what they are. You are doing this, so that's that, right? But I would like to comment on the bold 'New Item' and 'Modify Template' icons at the top of each screen in an item. A bit much! Particularly the dark teal background of the 'New Item' button. Once again, serious Podio users know how to find and create a new item, we do not need it shouted at us daily. This color and/or size could really stand to tone down. Same with the 'Modify Template' icon - it's just a touch too bold for a serious users needs. Trust us, we know where to go when we need to modify the template. We don't need it shouted at us on every page.
Thank you for hearing my feedback. Like all good humans we will adjust to your changes. However, I think meeting us halfway with some subtle adjustments to your beta roll-out could go a long way towards keeping current Podio users happy, rather than have us feel upset and unable to look at or go into the database that runs our business and/or personal lives.
Finally! I saw that you intend to phase out the current look in a few months. Give us a bit more time, please? Let us know you've listened, perhaps made some user-feedback adjustment, and then send an email that it is happening. There is nothing more shocking than waking up one day to find your entire cloud-based database interface is different, it's enough to send anyone to their cloud-based therapist for a week just to calm down and adjust to the change (perhaps bathed in the light of teal? ;). For those of us who have been loyal users for years give us a bit more time to acclimate, please! Or allow us to switch back to the original a bit longer, even if new functions there are no longer supported. As a behaviorist whose business is all about systems and how people adapt (and don't) I'm just saying, there's an art to these kind of roll-outs. Do what you got to do but don't leave your more sensitive users behind. Give us a minute to adapt and breathe.
Thank you kindly,
Maeve Richmond
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It seems the consensus is clear. We don't know which users you ran this by, but we don't like it. I've already had to use a CSS styler extension to change it up.
Having a better UI is a fantastic thing, but you guys didn't run this by the community at large and the backlash is apparent. If you are going to force it on people you will need to get better input. So I sincerely hope that you are reading the notes left for you here.
My suggestion would be to build a theme system around it and just set the one you want to push on people as a default. Take your time and do it right.
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