While soft credits are listed in the giving block on a person's record in NXT, they do not display on the timeline block. The timeline block is useful for seeing someone's pattern of giving at a glance (when all you care to see is what month the constituent's last gift came in, for instance). However, since soft credits are not displayed, this can create confusion.

It is particularly problematic when on phone calls with donors and you are trying to locate their gifts quickly. If the gift is a soft credit, it looks like there is no gift history even when there is! The giving block is less useful in this case, because there's too much information to sift through. The visual of the timeline is much easier to use at a glance.

I would like to suggest that an open circle be used on the giving timeline to indicate a soft credit gift and a closed/filled circle used to represent a direct donation.