Built around Semble's existing New Connection modal and Connections feed. Every option below is a variation that drops into your current patterns — the goal is to make which card supports which unmistakable at creation time and when browsing. Toggle the switches and watch the real components update.
A faithful reproduction of what ships today, for reference. Direction is currently carried by card order (source on top / left), the label pill, a small arrow, and the teal ⇅ flip button.
Toggle each idea on the live modal below. All are additive to your current layout — none require a redesign.
The feed is where direction gets lost most, because there's no interaction to lean on — only the static label between two cards. These options make it readable at a glance.
The caption + directional arrow combo is what makes the feed self-explanatory: a scanner reads the sentence, and the arrow confirms the geometry. Color by family lets someone triage supportive vs. opposing links without reading at all — consistent with the green/red you already use on the pills.
Same concepts, different input. On desktop the modal is a centered dialog with the ⇅ flip and (optionally) a hover-to-reveal FROM/TO. On mobile there's no hover and thumbs need room — so the modal becomes a bottom sheet, the label uses your existing full-screen dropdown, and the sentence preview earns its place since long titles wrap.
| Surface | Ship this | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| New Connection modal | Sentence preview line under the source card + directional label (“supports ↓”) | Low |
| Modal (first-run) | Labeled “⇅ Swap” until the user has made a few connections, then collapse to the icon | Low |
| Connections feed | Sentence caption above each pair + directional arrow in the pill; keep green/red family colors | Low |
| Both | FROM/TO tags + role accent as optional redundancy for long titles / accessibility | Med |
The single highest-leverage change is the sentence preview: it turns your typed relationship taxonomy (Supports, Opposes, Leads to, Addresses…) into a sentence the user reads back before hitting Create — catching reversed connections at the exact moment they'd otherwise be committed.