**First of all, I would like to sincerely thank the developers and community behind Anki for creating such a powerful, flexible, platform for learning.
As a long-time user with a focus on structured and conceptual learning, I’d like to share a few ideas .
Introduction:
The Importance of Structured Learning:
Learning is not merely about memorizing content; it also involves understanding the conceptual structure behind it. Cognitive science research has shown that information is retained more effectively when organized hierarchically or conceptually. Many users, especially in fields like philosophy, theology, languages, and systems thinking, organize their material in the form of concept trees.
An Example:
Imagine you have 100 cards related to the following structure:
Health and Medicine
├── Cardiovascular System
│ ├── Heart
│ └── Blood Vessels
├── Nervous System
│ ├── Brain
│ └── Spinal Cord
└── Skeletal System
├── Bones
└── Joints
If you review these 100 cards without knowing where each card fits into this structure, there is a fundamental flaw. You may have memorized the content of each card individually, but you lack a clear understanding of the overall structure and conceptual relationships between the cards.
In such a situation, the learning process becomes a collection of disconnected loops—each loop exists, but there’s no thread connecting them.
Effective learning goes beyond simple memorization; it must also involve understanding the placement of concepts within a larger structure. When the brain receives information within a well-defined conceptual framework, it processes it more deeply, resulting in more meaningful and long-lasting learning.
A Simple but Important Formula:
Structure + Scheduling = Deeper Learning
Anki is very powerful in the domain of spaced repetition-based review. However, it has some weaknesses when it comes to supportive tools for structured learning.
Challenge:
One of the main drawbacks in combining “structural understanding” and “scheduled learning” in Anki is the lack of card display for each deck in the main deck view. Currently, only the list of decks is visible, but the contents of each deck (i.e., the cards) are not shown. This results in a disconnect between the concepts that must be deeply retained (cards) and the structure that needs to be mentally organized (decks).
Although on the Browse page, users can see decks and subdecks on the left panel and cards on the right panel, the right panel lacks an option that allows the user to review due cards on demand.
Suggestion:
Add an option in the right panel of the Browse page that allows users to review one or more due cards at will.
Another suggestion is to merge the main deck view with the card review interface:
- Move the deck list entirely to the left side of the screen (instead of the center).
- On the right side, show a card review panel.
- This panel should have a toggle that allows the user to switch from “review” mode to “card list” mode (similar to how cards are shown in the Browse page).
- Whenever a user selects (highlights) a deck, the corresponding cards should be displayed live in the right panel.
- If the user clicks the “Review due cards” option, one or more due cards should appear for review.
This design would create a major improvement in the Anki user experience, as it merges three separate spaces—card review, cards list, and **decks structure **—into a single interface. This makes the interaction between them far more meaningful. It combines spaced repetition with structural understanding, leading to deep and principled learning. The user can see both the review panel and deck structure at the same time.
Quick Overview of Cards in a Deck
The user can quickly scan the contents of a deck before starting review due cards; this strengthens structural understanding and leads to deeper learning.
The Right Panel (When “Card List” Mode is Active) Should Include:
Visual distinction (color or icon) for due cards
Filtering/selecting cards that are due today
Manual reordering of cards for semantic organization
Example: A user studying historical timelines may wish to order cards like “World War I,” “World War II,” and “Cold War” chronologically for better retention.
Suggestion: Add a new column titled “User-Defined Card Order” (alongside existing columns like Question, Answer, etc.), so users can continuously adjust the order.
Option to review cards directly from the panel
Ability to add, edit, or delete cards directly within the panel
Suggestion for Adjustable Panel Width:
In the video below (showcasing Freeplane), the user can freely resize both panels. They can also completely show/hide a panel with a single click.