I find using KNIME a bit challenging when using a single screen setup, on my laptop vs being on a multi screen setup in the office. Partly, this is because in Modern UI, it seems that you can either open or collapse the bottom panel (port output) and right panel (node configuration), but they still show empty space when not used. I would greatly appreciate the option to have these panels auto collapse when empty (basically when no node is selected). Maybe this would be a toggle if people don’t like this behavior.
Also, you could imagine having even the left panel tabs (info, nodes, explorer, K-AI, monitor) being collapsed by default and displayed on hover. This is something many other programs can do. Right now, hovering does very little in KNIME, it is a bit of a wasted UX opportunity to me.
Bottom line, I would love to have a larger view of my workflow on a small screen, and auto collapsing all unused panels could greatly help.
Thanks a lot for sharing your experience. We’ve already been experimenting with ideas around improved panel management in the Modern UI, but nothing is fully concrete yet. As part of this work, we’re also looking into how we can increase the workflow editor area without losing access to the side panels. One option goes in the direction you mentioned — for example, making side panels appear only on hover when they’re needed. Another idea is a “zen mode” switched on/off via a hotkey that hides all panels to give you a focused workspace (but also these are coming with some compromises). We also have a few additional concepts and sketches exploring how panels could behave more dynamically depending on the context. So your suggestion fits really well with where our thoughts are heading. We’re still in the exploration phase, but happy to share more once things take a clearer shape; to help users gain more space for their workspace in general but in particular on small screens.