[Sigia-l] Google's new home page

[martin.fietkiewicz at gmail.com]

As I put my "average impatient user" hat (or imagine my parents doing this),
my first impression is that it makes no sense to have it revealed when I
move the mouse.  Yes, the cursor is already inside the search box, but a lot
of users at first will want to move the cursor to the box and click inside
it instead of just starting to type as soon as they see the logo.  So the
fade-in becomes a distraction as opposed to a reliable constant
sidebar/menu-bar.  I suppose we'll get used to it, but it does seem
superfluous in that Web2.0MG sort of way.

Martin


2009/12/3 Jonathan Baker-Bates <jonathan at bakerbates.com>

> What do we think?
>
> http://tinyurl.com/yfxdjnl
>
> I can see where they are coming from ("Keep it simple! Less is more!"),
> but I don't understand why they've actually done it unless there's some
> business benefit for them. They seem to be assuming that because people
> know about the links in the top left and the submit buttons, etc. they
> can be initially hidden from view for the sake of some more of that
> atavistic "simplicity."
>
> Doesn't this have a rather obvious problem though? Hiding things from
> view can be OK if you allow them to be revealed by an explicit action
> (eg a "see more" link), but if that action is potentially associated
> with doing something *else* (like preparing to type into a field) then
> you're effectively ensuring that they will never be seen. This is
> particularly true if you look down at the keyboard when you start
> typing.
>
> Or am I at the wrong level here? Are they going to use this technique to
> emphasise new stuff instead? New Google Labs features and exhortations
> to download Chrome could therefore get prime position before the reveal,
> for instance.
>
> I wonder though. It feels to me a bit like the BBC's ill-fated "Glass
> Wall" design for their home page a number of years ago. Seemed like a
> great idea at first...
>
> Either way, as a discreet bit of interaction design, it'll be
> interesting to see how widely it will be copied, and to what effect (and
> fun to spot the cargo cults along the way).
>
> Jonathan
>
>
>
>
>
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