
Reasons why Google+ is interesting UI - joshuacc
http://bokardo.com/archives/5-reasons-why-google-is-interesting-ui/
======
jinushaun
In case anyone else is having a hard time reading this cause the site is
bogged down:

The Google+ launch has been very positive for Google so far. I think it’s
interesting from a UI standpoint for several reasons:

1\. It puts Google on the design map. 2\. Part of a bigger redesign. 3\. Andy
Hertfeld is lead Designer. 4\. Increasing rivalry with Facebook. 5\. Strong
win for UX Research

~~~
kylemathews
Here's the cached version:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://bokardo.com/archives/5-reasons-
why-google-is-interesting-ui/&hl=en&strip=1)

------
nextparadigms
I hope to see the same kind of polished and clean look and feel arrive to
Android 4.0.

------
dmbass
The design looks nice, clean and simple, but it isn't very functional. In that
respect, I would consider it a failure. If a layman like me can find glaring
weaknesses, why can't the people working on it do so? Budget, deadline or
incompetence?

The only one I can remotely justify is deadline since the client is Google
(infinite money, needs social bad, supposedly lots of smart people), but since
a redesign is so much work, wouldn't you expect them want to get it right the
first time?

~~~
oldpatricka
Do you think maybe you could explain why it isn't functional?

~~~
dmbass
In the new Gmail there is a huge amount of unused space, even in the "Dense"
view. This results in less emails on the screen at one time in the Inbox (I
use Priority Inbox so maybe it works great in regular mode, but it should work
in both). The might have been trying to avoid information overload but they
achieved information underload.

Now the compose and search buttons are enormous and the only colored elements
on the page. Eyes are drawn to them in a way that each competes for attention
and eventually you end up at the Gmail logo. Great for Google branding(? I
already use Gmail), not so good for me because it hurts my eyes and distracts
me.

Next, with everything being white with a few grey highlights, it is unclear
where each section of the page begins and ends. Some things start to scroll
while others stay static with no indication of what will change. The browser
scrollbar takes up the whole size of the browser window but only part of the
screen scrolls some of the time.

Just a few of the issues I had.

~~~
lambada
The article is about Google+ not GMail. Although, admittedly, they are
related, I feel that you've accidentally compared apples and oranges.

~~~
dmbass
Well it did mentioned that "'Design' is now at Google" and the designs are
being unified. All Google products are being +ified.

------
wyclif
_Andy Hertfeld is lead Designer_

I believe his last name is Hertzfeld.

------
kiplinger
Will definitely read when the site is back to normal, i like Joshua Porter's
stuff. The article by the ex Wave developer on HN is a good read in the mean
time.

------
bonch
Hacker News has become an unpaid arm of Google's marketing department.
Mainstream users don't care about Google+, if they've even heard of it.

~~~
known
Does PG hold GOOG shares?

~~~
tdfx
As far as I've seen he hasn't been posting any of these Google+ articles.

~~~
known
I was kidding.

