Gmail's new look

Darren Dirt · July 07, 2011, 11:26:06 AM

The Big Black Bar is spreading...

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/preview-of-gmails-new-look.html

thoughts?

Mr. Analog · July 07, 2011, 11:33:06 AM

I'm hating the black bar bull@%&#, time to download Thunderbird again...

Melbosa · July 07, 2011, 11:37:00 AM

I hate to say it, but I like it. Although I don't have the contrasting problem that I see a lot of people complaining about.

Mr. Analog · July 07, 2011, 11:43:42 AM

Yeah, but you like "The Love Guru" so we know your taste is a bit off the beaten path compared to the rest of the herd LOL

The thing that bothers me the most about this black bar business is that from a design standpoint it counters the rest of Google's "be less obtrusive" design ethic, that bar is not what I want to see when I'm searching, using e-mail or doing anything else and yet they made it as unwelcome looking as humanly possible.

Darren Dirt · July 07, 2011, 01:30:46 PM

Quote from: Mr. Analog on July 07, 2011, 11:43:42 AM
from a design standpoint it counters the rest of Google's "be less obtrusive" design ethic, that bar is not what I want to see when I'm searching, using e-mail or doing anything else and yet they made it as unwelcome looking as humanly possible.

I've noticed a trend, probably mainly initiated by Microsoft (esp. Windows 7) or possibly due to the popularity of Facebook ... but images/icons/toolbars are being steadily replaced by TEXT. Text that you have to read, before you can decide if that's the button you're looking for.

Ugh.

Our brains are great at instant pattern-matching based on color, shape, and also location.

I'm really disappointed that even Google is following this reading-heavy trend. Any UI (including web interfaces for services like Gmail) that is not hyper-simple (i.e. has lots of functionality to choose from) should definitely take advantage of those universal things that made Windows 95 a success for the non-techie masses (compared to the text-heavy DOS/*nix offerings) ... it makes them a pleasure to use, instead of being exhausting (eyes moving aound all over the place to find That One Specific Button :sigh: ) and eventually something you find yourself avoiding.

/rant (i.e. do NOT want to re-open the Windows 7 pandora's box from a few weeks ago

)

Mr. Analog · July 07, 2011, 01:32:27 PM

Actually the move to text is very much appreciated by me, they just don't have to make it ugly or stick out.

Thorin · July 07, 2011, 02:11:16 PM

Umm, they already had text links as buttons. The old style had blue link text on a white background with the background highlighting grayish when you moused over it. The new style has off-white text on a black background highlighting dark grayish when you mouse over it.

This change was just a CSS change, as far as I can tell. It's even the exact same size, at 32 pixels high. And I agree with Mr.A., it's harder to read because of the lack of contrast compared to the old bar.

Darren Dirt · July 07, 2011, 04:10:32 PM

Okay sorry I wasn't clear.

Something I've noticed is a move towards buttons/links that are ONLY identifiable (and distinguishable from each other) by the letters. NOT by pictures/icons, not by COLORS, and often not even by location.

Hence my comment above -- obviously text is needed and not necessarily a bad thing if it's text-only. Just have some useful intelligence in the placement and/or informational coloring and you've got a UI Win Win.

Mr. Analog · July 07, 2011, 04:14:50 PM

Okay, we're on the same page then.

Tom · July 07, 2011, 04:55:58 PM

I don't hate the new look, but the contrast could definitely be better. One thing to note, is Google's design head for google+ (including the gmail updates) is the guy that's responsible for a /lot/ of iOS and OSX's design aesthetic. He and the head of google+ are also working more like dictators, basically decreeing how things will be, which is not how google has worked in the past. So things are basically different, because things are different. There's actually some kind of over-arching long term goal here that we won't see for probably years. In the mean time, we get updates peace-meal, some of which no doubt, a large portion of people won't be happy with.

Darren Dirt · July 08, 2011, 12:59:46 AM

Quote from: Tom on July 07, 2011, 04:55:58 PM
There's actually some kind of over-arching long term goal here that we won't see for probably years.

http://www.collegehumor.com/article/5733486/if-google-released-skynet
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2007-04-14-n32.html

^ inevitable I guess ...

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread577151/pg1 :phear:

Or you could just choose the alternative lifestyle choice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMChO0qNbkY

Darren Dirt · July 08, 2011, 12:00:20 PM

Quote from: http://twitter.com/BorowitzReport/status/88054546730979329
@BorowitzReport
Andy Borowitz
I'm looking forward to what Google does with its logo on the day of the Apocalypse.

Andy Borowitz, short-form comic genius on par with Steve, and maybe even Conan ("@BorowitzReport: Consistently the funniest man on twitter." sez George Carlin's daughter ; I concur!)

Darren Dirt · July 13, 2011, 04:57:15 PM

Google Plus (or is it "Google+" ?? ) explained by Vancouver Sun ("so easy a grandparent can do it"?)
http://www.vancouversun.com/Circles+Hangouts+Sparks+simple+guide+getting+started+Google+Plus/5096798/story.html

the VS g+ page is pretty clean: http://gplus.to/thevancouversun

Thorin · July 13, 2011, 06:30:22 PM

I'm really "meh" about Google+. Dunno why, I used to get excited at new Google offerings.

Mr. Analog · July 13, 2011, 07:11:28 PM

You know what the "hey I'm excited about this" moment was for me? When I realized that I WASN'T sucked in to spending 2 hours+ farting around on Google+. I get in, see what peeps are up to, manage some circles and I'm done.

That was the light bulb moment, it's almost like when I realized that I could keep tabs with a group of people at the same time by joining a listserv

Darren Dirt · September 01, 2011, 06:51:07 AM

some tech analyst's theory about Google+...
"it isn't about social networking at all -- it's about moving users to an entirely cloud-based computing model"
http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/google-is-really-about-the-cloud-not-social-networking/

related: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/eric-schmidt-i-screwed-up-googles-social-strategy/

in other news, Microsoft continues to not invent its own stuff, but now is striving to "play nice" with other services http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/microsoft-will-make-out-thanks-to-facebook-skype-deal/

Mr. Analog · September 28, 2011, 07:58:19 AM

So, now that G+ has had some time to sink in... I don't use it and I still go to Facebook. Why? Everyone's still on FB

I doubt this is likely to change unless G+ offers something that FB lacks, otherwise with two equally featured apps I'll pick the one that others use (sort of a key feature for social networking). I'm willing to say that it's too early to say for sure that G+ is a failed venture but at this point it seems very much like Euro Disney (open for business but nobody showed up)

Lazybones · September 28, 2011, 09:25:06 AM

Well they went public last week and saw a 1% over all market share increase apparently... Also I started using it for photo hosting and its interface for that is better than Facebook in some ways.

Also the Games are starting to be ported... Some addicts may switch because Facebook has a habit of breaking games with their changes and I know some users that like the games but hate the constant breaking.

Time will tell. I agree at the moment almost no one in my circles is posting to G+