Two small but exciting improvements revealed today.
1. Google has at last made some design improvements to their search results (via Daring Fireball).
Design!
I wrote about my frustration with Google’s lack of design vision some time ago. It’s great to finally see them trying to improve their usability and their aesthetic at the same time.
For the record, Google’s in the midst of a gradual roll out of the redesign, so you may not see the changes right away.
2. Rumor has it that the next iteration of the iPhone OS will include orientation locking. What’s orientation locking, you say? It’s the ability to keep the iPhone screen from switching to landscape mode.
Yay!
I’ve lamented how the lack of this feature has been one of the major bothers of an otherwise great phone experience. I’m excited to finally have the feature on my phone.
It’s definitely the little things I get excited about. But then, sometimes they’re what really matter most to a fella.
2 Comments
Do you really think the new Google’s design it’s more usable this way?? I’m being completely honest here, I’d like to get your point of view on how and why the changes improve the usability and looks on the site. I just read the post you reference and would like to hear more on the topic.
For me it’s the complete opposite, as I perceive it as a disctraction from my search results. While I admit that there’s benefit on trying to organize the search results, I don’t think the current version of the “Everything” bar is adequate.
It’s similar to the iGoogle bar at the left side of the screen; I don’t think having an extra control bar would really help me out to organize my main window content.
My suggestion would be to place the search bar above the results section as it would be less intrusive to the main content on the screen; right now I feel like I’m looking at the classified announces on the newspaper.
Like I said, I understand the point and idea, I agree it might be a good one, but the implementation may not be the best for several users; my main complain and demand would be to give the users the power to decide if they want to use it or not, otherwise, it would be forcing the to adapt to something they don’t use. Again, comparing it to iGoogle, it would be like forcing some portlets into my content.
Great site by the way. Just read a couple of posts, but you have a very interesting content here =D.
Regards!
Well, now that’s a good question. And my answer is, I just don’t know yet. The change just kicked in for me on a regular basis today, and I must admit it’s been somewhat jarring. But this may be due to the fact that the Google UI hasn’t changed in so very, very long. It’s also not terribly different from what was there before, and I almost worry it doesn’t go far enough. But time will tell. I think the best way to test the usability of something is to use it.
So for me the jury’s still out. I’m not convinced the changes will be all that beneficial, to be honest. What I do think is a good sign is that they’re at least trying, that they’re at least acknowledging that design is important to how something works, and that their design is weak.
Thanks for the compliment, BTW. Much appreciated!
-systemsboy