JIRA becomes a lot simpler (in the same way Lisp is simpler, not user-friendly UI) when operated from issue search with JQL filters and heavy use of the keyboar

JIRA becomes a lot simpler (in the same way Lisp is simpler, not user-friendly UI) when operated from issue search with JQL filters and heavy use of the keyboard ops. You can then make a mental model that ultimately JIRA has project, which have a "table" of issues/items, with various attributes each - plus simple workflow engine - everything else is just built around it, whether kanban boards, SCRUM, various reporting tools (very powerful), or random plugins (integration with SCM, time tracking, etc. etc)