UX shortcoming: Start view lacks basic customization options
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Dear Windy Team,
First of all, thank you for providing a technically impressive platform. However, I’d like to highlight a significant shortcoming in your user experience that could be improved with relatively simple changes: the inability to define a truly useful start view for daily users.
Currently, the app (and website) always defaults to the wind layer — a parameter relevant for niche audiences like pilots or surfers, but not for the general public. Most people are primarily interested in temperature, precipitation, and cloud coverage — yet switching to those layers manually on every session is both tedious and unintuitive.
Key UX issues:
No multi-layer default
It’s impossible to set a startup view that combines temperature, rain, and clouds — something any average user would want.Wind as default is misaligned with user needs
Your platform appears designed around wind-centric use cases, alienating mainstream users who simply want the weather.Start layer configuration is inconsistent
Even when selecting “Temperature” as the default layer, the app often reverts to “Wind” due to caching or sync issues between devices.Too many manual steps
On mobile in particular, switching layers takes several taps, with no option for swipe-friendly transitions or quick toggles.No customizable dashboard
There’s no way to create a personal overview of key parameters. A dashboard with side-by-side widgets or map overlays would be ideal.Suggestions for improvement:
Add a start view configurator where users can define:
Default location (manual or GPS)
Default zoom level
One or more layers to display
Offer a multi-layer view or customizable dashboard mode to combine rain, temperature, and cloud maps.
Ensure that start layer settings persist consistently across sessions and devices for logged-in users.
Add support for usage profiles (e.g., “General Weather”, “Sailing”, “Aviation”) or allow users to define their own presets.
Windy is a powerful tool, but currently misses the mark for general users due to a few UX design oversights. Addressing these would make the app vastly more usable for a much larger audience.
Thanks for your time — and for building a platform with so much potential.
Kind regards,