Authored by:: [[P- Rob Haisfield]]

• [[Twitter thread]] [[P- Rob Haisfield]]: 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. [*](https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1326185315380310016 pull)
  • 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 pull?s=20 [*](https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1326186101053140992 pull)
  • 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 pull [*](https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1326187083736649730 pull)
  • 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. [*](https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1326187085296934912 pull)
  • 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. [*](https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1326187977349869568 pull)
  • Regardless of its outcomes as a product, it will be a valuable research contribution to the tools for thought space. [*](https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1326189522531491841 pull)
  • 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. [*](https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1326190050124595201 pull)
  • 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? https://robhaisfield.com/notes/user-involvement [*](https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1326197127903506432 pull)
  • 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. [*](https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1326197129950359552 pull)
  • 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. http://gordonbrander.com/pattern/low-floor-wide-walls-high-ceiling/ [*](https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1326197133985288194 pull)
  • Codex could become an absolute power tool for qualitative researchers https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1383434842696683523 pull [*](https://twitter.com/RobertHaisfield/status/1383443781752549379 pull)