Live cursors

Finally launched our live cursor feature yesterday (you can read more about it here) :)

I’ve been wanting to build this for years, but the global lockdown finally made it a priority.

For the UI design, I tried to find something a little more personable than the typical solution (i.e. a cursor with someone's name flying around). Especially in the current scenario, I figure it’s always nicer to see a human face if possible.

The 'chonky cursor' design I ended up with has room for avatars, which I think are simpler to parse, and less obtrusive, than lots of text labels flying around.

If a user doesn't have an avatar we use initials and a colour to identify them. The colour is autogenerated based on their name, so it’ll remain consistent across every board they’re on, which should also help with identification.

We’re toying with some other ideas to help with passive communication, such as having the cursors bounce when their user clicks, or having their full name fade in if you hover nearby.

Would love to hear what you think, always open to suggestions for improvement!