As a long time player, I agree it is a very big difference, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's worse. There is more information automatically recorded that is very relevant when ascending/back tracking, and doing this would have been very awkward with the old format. I don't think players should have to open the notes 25 times a playthrough just to record floor modifiers. While you could suggest a way to improve the current system, I feel that simply reverting to the old system isn't the answer.

The main issue with the old format was how inefficient it was in terms of space. Previously the journal notes UI had room for about 10 notes on screen at once, which becomes very inadequate once the additional notes and custom notes are involved. The lack of icons also meant that it was difficult to see what notes were about at a glance, compared to now where notes are more clearly grouped by floor and have immediate visual indicators of what they're related to.

It's true that SPD lacks some GUI personal customization. A button to revert it back would be a solution, if you don't like the new one. A skip animation toggle would be good too...