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April 09, 2006
Simply Google - What if Google only had one homepage?
There has been a lot of discussion about Google's so called simplicity and the talk of homepage googlization.
I decided to design a new Google homepage that inlcuded links to all of the different searches, sites and blogs.
I call it Simply Google and it can be found at goo-home.com.
I think that it is a lot simpler than the corresponding google offering. What do you think?
April 9, 2006 in Usability | Permalink
Comments
The word "Google" takes up a lot of space . . .
Posted by: Peter @ Tech for the Timid | 23 Apr 2006 08:31:02
That is exactly what we tried to achieve by designing htpp://www.pageflakes.com - it's a personalized start page where you can aggregate as much (or as little) content and applications as you like. I would like to hear your feedback. Please feel free to contact me directly at ole@pageflakes.com and let me know your suggestions.
Regards
Ole
Posted by: Ole Brandenburg | 13 Apr 2006 05:40:19
That is exactly what we tried to achieve by designing htpp://www.pageflakes.com - it's a personalized start page where you can aggregate as much (or as little) content and applications as you like. I would like to hear your feedback. Please feel free to contact me directly at ole@pageflakes.com and let me know your suggestions.
Regards
Ole
Posted by: Ole Brandenburg | 13 Apr 2006 05:38:23
Well, it definately does a good job of pushing features in your face... Looks great for the minority of users who would sacrifice simplicity for control.
Posted by: Zephyr | 12 Apr 2006 16:38:50
Jack, thanks for the comments. Simply Google has been very selfishly created for myself so that I don't have to try and remember how to get to the Google Blogsearch or where that link to Google Analytics lives.
I was inspired to create the page because of an article by Don Norman:
The truth about Google's so-called 'simplicity'
"Anybody can make a simple-looking interface if the system only does one thing. If you want to do one of the many other things Google is able to do, oops, first you have to figure out how to find it, then you have to figure out which of the many offerings to use, then you have to figure out how to use it. And because all those other things are not on the home page but, instead, are hidden away in various mysterious places, extra clicks and operations are required for even simple tasks — if you can remember how to get to them."
http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/the_truth_about.html
I think that there are enough dis-organised people in the world who can't be bothered to keep their bookmarks sorted or tagged to make this page useful to some people.
Design wise, it is at the other extreme from the 'simple' official google homepage and shows that the most usable version is probably somewhere in-between the two.
Later tomorrow I should be replacing it with a more accessible version that will work better on a mobile device, this is where it will be much more useful to me.
(I will post this on your blog when I ascape the firewall)
Henk, Google Reader is actually available from the "Feeds" label in the search list. I did wonder whether or not I should use Feeds instead of Reader and I think I will change it to Reader later today or tomorrow.
PN, I didn't know about joga.com, but won't be including it on the page because it just doesn't "feel right". I didn't put orkut in because I think of it more as an acquisition (like measure maps) rather than a google service.
I know that my decisions of what to include and what not to include may seem arbitrary, but I have to draw the line somewhere.
J.J, I refer you the answer I gave above.
Andrew, someone (Ian Lloyd) will be helping me me to produce an accessible version that will be better for mobile devices.
Posted by: Chris McEvoy | 12 Apr 2006 14:03:17
Fine work!
But where is: Google Reader?
Posted by: Henk | 12 Apr 2006 13:38:35
Comments at
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/archives/2006/04/12/simply_goo_goo_google.html
Cheers!
Posted by: Jack | 12 Apr 2006 11:21:48
What about http://www.joga.com and https://www.orkut.com ?
Posted by: PN | 12 Apr 2006 01:33:05
How did you find all of the different search options, and why did you leave others out (like University or Government)? It's funny how many specific search sites there are; I wonder which criteria Google uses for a Microsoft search, for example.
Posted by: J. J. | 11 Apr 2006 18:48:37
Excellent work. The only thing I can think of to improve it is trying to make the page compact enough to fit on a smaller screen w/o the need to scroll (that's a very nitpicky though!)
Posted by: Andrew Pipkorn | 11 Apr 2006 18:42:51
