Google Goes Minimal With Simple Site Redesign
The response time for accessing your Gmail and other features is, ostensibly, slower. According to the Official Google Blog, "Google is all about getting you where you are going faster - how could we launch something that potentially slowed users down? Then, we realized: we want users to notice this change... and it does take time to notice something (though in this case, only milliseconds!)." Google claims that this led to a more efficient use of the site, as compared to a control group.
Some of us at Switched don't understand the hype around the change. After all, how much money was poured into this redesign, and to what effect? Will a momentarily minimal page change Google's status as king of the Internet food chain? Basically: why redesign?
Well, if Twitter is any indication of the digital cultural mood, users seem to like it. A quick survey yielded these pro-minimal tweets:
- ebelliveau: "Anyone notice anything special about the Google.com homepage? Someone @Google decided that minimal = beautiful. I'd be inclined to agree."
- demirmahir: "Just love the new minimal google look! Once again bravo for google!"
- martineno: "The new minimal Google homepage is excellent. I dig the fade in after mouse move. It's great to see minimalism on today's busy web."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SpringPersephone said 1:03PM on 12-04-2009
Not sure what this has to do with "Holiday Gift Guide 09" but ok.
Regarding the redesign - it stinks.
The default google.com page was already minimal enough, no banners, no pop-ups, no blinking, flashing junk. Only now, even when i move my mouse (or trace my touchpad in my case), i can't see a link to google images, which i use often, or maps or video which i use now and then too.
The redesign is utterly useless and it takes longer to get what you're looking for. Whoever came up with this one needs to be kicked out of their perk-laden office job and replaced with someone with some common sense!
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yggdrasill0117 said 4:14PM on 12-04-2009
It's nothing special. It'd be better if it slid in. When you move your mouse up there, instead of appears and stays.
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fazer said 4:22PM on 12-04-2009
Google is set as my homepage and has been doing this for a couple of weeks now...
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Schoonmakr said 5:10PM on 12-04-2009
The new design does NOT work with AOL. You can move your mouse around, click it here, there, and elsewhere, and NOTHING more appears. In MSIE, however, moving the mouse does restore what you expect to see. So Google either does not know about this glitch with AOL or does not care about the MILLIONS of people who use AOL software. Is it up to AOL to consult with Google to make the new Google opening screen work in AOL, or for Google to abandon this absurd redesign? If it doesn't work in AOL, what ELSE does it not work in?
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paul4v44 said 6:08PM on 12-04-2009
If it ain't boke, don't fix it
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