Google Reader redesign: a step in the right direction
The former project manager for Google Reader (Brian Shih) posted a harsh critique of the recent design changes to the Google Reader web interface. Judging by the comments and other posts, it seems many people agree with him. But (as often happens on the internet) people are getting overly upset about the negatives and failing to see the improvements the new design offers.
Brian complains that too much of the page’s real estate is dedicated to non-primary functionality, like search. But I welcome Google’s new approach. This interface has room to breathe, something their products typically lack. Interface design isn’t about how densely you’re able to pack controls into a screen. Grouping relating things and distancing them from unrelated things is how you create interfaces that don’t need to be learned — they’re simply used.
A good example of this is the new, brightly coloured “Subscribe” button for adding a feed to your list. It’s very prominent, even though adding a new feed is a relatively infrequent task. This disproportionate prominence is a good thing. It means that on the rare occasion I do add a new feed, doing so is easy. I don’t need to learn a new task and then make a mental note to remember how I did it for next time. This is much better than having to hastily scan a tightly packed screen for a tiny (and poorly labeled) “Manage Subscriptions” link, which how the previous design worked. Don’t make me think!
Aside from some new lipstick and some added/removed controls, I think the new layout is pretty similar to the previous layout. The dimensions are almost identical, so I’m not sure why people are complaining about how little screen area is dedicated to the reading area — hasn’t the reading area always been approximately this size?
Web interfaces are so 2009
Most surprising of all is that people actually use the web interface for Reader. Thanks to third-party apps like Reeder (and previously NetNewsWire), I can read all my feeds, beautifully formatted, without having to login to a silly website.
What do you think, is the new design an improvement or a step backwards?
