The Evolution of the Arcade Sidebar

‍

From day one, our mission at Arcade has been to create an editing experience that is delightful, fast, and effortlessly easy. We want our customers to feel the magic ✨ of building interactive demos with a platform that evolves as quickly as their needs do.

‍

We introduced numerous new editing features in the past year, ranging from one-click additions like Pan & Zoom to more complex editing functionalities like branching and highlighting. However, as our product rapidly evolved, we recognized that the foundational paradigm we relied on for editing could no longer keep pace.

‍

Before, all editing was done in context on the step, but this became more complicated as more features were added. Space was limited, and predicting where editing would occur was challenging—whether in context or the sidebar. This was particularly challenging for new customers trying to build muscle memory while editing their first Arcades.

‍

‍

By moving more editing functions to the sidebar, we aim to provide you with a more consistent, predictable editing experience. We also wanted to align ourselves with other creator tools that people are familiar with and love — like Figma, Pitch, or Veed.

‍

A new paradigm.

We believe now is the perfect time to shift our layout and embrace a new era for Arcade.

‍

Two primary goals drive this change:

• Easier discoverability: We want to ensure that all the powerful tools you love are easily accessible, allowing you to edit at the speed of thought ⚡️.
• Enable future feature development: The changes we're making are essential for accommodating the exciting new features and improvements we have planned for the future.

‍

So, what exactly has changed?

We've streamlined the sidebar to make editing faster and more intuitive. There is now an Action Bar (top) and a Sidebar (right).

‍

Action bar = adding ➕

The Action Bar at the top now contains all features for adding elements to a specific step, including camera recording, hotspots, callouts, and pan and zoom.

‍

Sidebar = editing ✍️

All features for editing elements on the step and the overall Arcade are maintained in the sidebar.

‍

Copy, paste, and delete with the touch of a key.

The new design experience also allows you to quickly copy elements to different steps for faster editing and consistent styling. Copy and paste pan and zoom, hotspots, callouts, and more.

‍

‍

What’s next?

We are continuously trying to improve and innovate — and we always want to hear your ideas! Here are a few areas we are exploring for future updates, and we are seeking beta testers to help us refine these features:

‍

• Chapter Content: Moving all form and chapter elements into the sidebar for faster editing.
• Translations: Streamlining the process of managing translations.
• Variables: Enhancing how variables can be used for personalization.
• Arcade Name, Description, and Thumbnail: Simplifying the process of editing these elements.

‍

Interested in being a beta tester? Reach out to aleks@arcade.software.

‍

‍

Moving to this new editing experience is an exciting evolution for our product, and we're committed to having an easy-to-use, intuitive builder at all stages of our product journey! We’re excited to see what you build and are always open to your feedback.

‍

Thank you for being part of the Arcade community 🕹️ ✌️.

‍

Aleks,

Head of Design at Arcade