Separate Conversation and Canvas Modes Clearly (with dedicated Document Format Context)

ChatGPT Feature requests
1

Feedback Type:
Feature Request / UX Improvement

Current Issue:
Canvas Mode currently mixes ChatGPT’s conversational style (which is inherently iterative and exploratory) with structured document editing. Users often face confusion, redundant suggestions, inconsistent recommendations, and difficulty maintaining document clarity. This friction significantly impacts usability, productivity, and user satisfaction.

Suggested Improvement (detailed):
Provide clear separation between:

  • Conversational interaction:
    Users and ChatGPT discuss revisions, formatting, suggestions, or ideas in a dedicated conversation pane.
  • Structured Document Canvas:
    A stable document-editing canvas where the actual content remains clearly formatted, stable, and free of conversational artifacts. Changes suggested during the conversation are implemented directly onto the canvas explicitly, after conversational confirmation.

Additionally, the canvas maintains a dedicated “Document Format Context”, which is a stable subset of the broader conversation context, ensuring consistent formatting standards and eliminating redundant suggestions.

Example Workflow for Clarity (brief):

  1. User creates a document in the canvas.
  2. User in conversation pane requests edits: “Clarify points A and B.”
  3. GPT replies conversationally with a proposed edit.
  4. User approves: “Yes, incorporate that.”
  5. GPT directly updates the canvas and conversationally confirms: “Done.”
  6. User requests a formatted code block (e.g., for LaTeX equations) conversationally.
  7. GPT provides this code block in the conversation pane without altering the stable, human-readable format on the canvas.

Later, users can paste back documents edited externally (e.g., from Google Docs). GPT recognizes previously established “Document Format Context” and updates the canvas accordingly, seamlessly resuming workflow.

Expected Benefits:

  • Eliminates confusion caused by mixing iterative conversational style and structured document editing.
  • Significantly improves workflow efficiency, clarity, and user satisfaction.
  • Clearly leverages ChatGPT’s conversational strength without sacrificing structured document consistency.