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Google+ gets a redesign

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Re: Google+ gets a redesign

#71

Post by icebraining »

ben0x539 wrote: post #22

So is blogspot intentionally broken in the presence of NoScript in some vague attempt to protect javascript-based advertisements?

I had the same problem, so I looked into it a bit more.

Apparently, NoScript disables local storage in such a way that even testing for it (using if(window.localStorage)) throws a NS_ERROR_DOM_SECURITY_ERR and terminates the script. This is obviously problematic, and seems a bug in NS instead of Blogspot, although it can be a deliberate decision by the NoScript devs, I don't know.

Following the instructions in the NoScript forums[1] works by making it return "null" instead of an error, thus letting the script run.

I'd still prefer if Blogspot didn't need Javascript to display a simple post, but alas, the trend seems to be unstoppable.

[1]: http://forums.informaction.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=5208

Re: Google+ gets a redesign

#72

Post by iconfinder »

jaysonelliot wrote: post #46

The first thing I have to do when looking at a demo video like this is mute the music so I can actually look at the usability of the interface without the soundtrack trying to tug at my heartstrings. I find it hard to tell if this is going to be a step in the right direction or not. There are some red flags that go up for me, but it's obviously hard to judge based on descriptions and videos alone. One of the biggest…

"It's an adage in UX that when you see an interface that asks the user to customize the layout, it means the designers gave up trying to find the right solution themselves."

It's always depends on the app. If you have a tool where you primarily have heavy users e.g. a programmer's IDE - then customization makes sense. But in the case of Google+ I don't see the point either - it just adds extra complexity.

Re: Google+ gets a redesign

#73

Post by [deleted] »

jaysonelliot wrote: post #29
[deleted] wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

I downvoted you for using the word "ghey" as some sort of perjorative, but the rest of what you're saying isn't doing much to dissuade me from my assessment. (Edit - the OP has edited to remove the word "ghey" since my comment, it was originally right before the phrase "blog posts" as an adjective.) IBM didn't lose out to an "operating system," if anything, it was Microsoft that made them capable of competing in the…

[deleted]

Re: Google+ gets a redesign

#74

Post by huhtenberg »

AznHisoka wrote: post #65

I think Google+ can capture part of that anti-Facebook audience. Emphasize more meaningful conversations, and less trivial updates and lame drama. Sort of what those Mac commercials did by comparing themselves against boring old Windows.

I am a part of that audience and it's not anti-Facebook, but anti-(intrusively-social), which includes G+. Perhaps even at a higher spot than Facebook.

Re: Google+ gets a redesign

#75

Post by SkyMarshal »

For me, the problem with G+ is that you can't fine-tune the signal:noise ratio enough.

In a nutshell, Facebook is a network of people I know first IRL, so getting pictures of their dinner last night or latest cat's antics and other useless stuff I can sort of live with, it goes with the territory.

But G+ is more like Twitter with longer posts - I follow a a lot of people I don't know IRL, but only because of a shared interest, and I'm only interested in their posts on that interest, not the other noise.

Whereas pointless posts on Twitter are only 140 characters, don't take up much screen real estate, and are easy to skim and/or skip, that's less the case with G+. I really want a way in G+ to filter out posts by those people that don't have anything to do with the shared interest.

For example, if I create a "Functional Programming" circle and subscribe to a bunch of Haskell, Ocaml, ML, Lisp, and Scheme programmers that I don't know IRL, I'm really not interested in their vacation photos and whatnot. But currently there's no way to filter their vacation photo posts from their posts on functional programming.

An effective 90% solution would be to simply add hash tag filtering to circles, so I can instruct my Functional Programming circle to only accept posts with #functional, #functionalprogramming, #haskell, #ocaml, #ml, #lisp, #scheme, and block anything else without at least one of those hash tags in it.

Not quite perfect, and G+'ers would have to develop the habbit of using hashtags more than they currently do, but it's functional and flexible enough and provides the tools necessary for the community to solve this problem themselves.

This is my biggest G+ pain point, and while I have nothing negative to say about the redesign (it's nice), as long as it doesn't solve this one problem, it will do nothing to get me using G+ more (I check in about 2 or 3 times a week currently).

Re: Google+ gets a redesign

#76

Post by jmillikin »

freehunter wrote: post #53
jaysonelliot wrote: post #46

The first thing I have to do when looking at a demo video like this is mute the music so I can actually look at the usability of the interface without the soundtrack trying to tug at my heartstrings. I find it hard to tell if this is going to be a step in the right direction or not. There are some red flags that go up for me, but it's obviously hard to judge based on descriptions and videos alone. One of the biggest…

I agree that the conversations are difficult. When I click the notification window to see a reply, all I get is that one reply. I find it cumbersome to find the full conversation, to the point where I usually go to that person's page and find the original, eschewing the notifications altogether.

Click the reply in the notification list.

Re: Google+ gets a redesign

#77

Post by peterwiese »

mladenkovacevic wrote: post #40

I thought the original G+ design was refreshing and original.... but this is... so much better! The main nav bar on the side reminds me of Unity. And yes I know that many people don't have wide screens and many also despise Unity (for that or other reasons) but this feller here sure likes it.

no one has no wide screen

Re: Google+ gets a redesign

#78

Post by eblume »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #75

For me, the problem with G+ is that you can't fine-tune the signal:noise ratio enough. In a nutshell, Facebook is a network of people I know first IRL, so getting pictures of their dinner last night or latest cat's antics and other useless stuff I can sort of live with, it goes with the territory. But G+ is more like Twitter with longer posts - I follow a a lot of people I don't know IRL, but only because of a shared…

I agree, and a friend of mine actually had a working Chrome extension to support filtering by tags (implemented as hashtags, but transparently, so if you had the plugin it rendered the tags in a prettier way.)

Unfortunately his only takeaway from the experience was that designing extensions for chrome was really hard, and stuff kept breaking. He eventually gave up, IIRC.

Re: Google+ gets a redesign

#80

Post by foolinator »

Even though one can't reliably predict how to take down facebook, it's great to see google keep trying to lash at it.

Historically, no tech company stays in the #1 spot for more than a decade. That doesn't mean Facebook won't be around in 10 years, but it does show how volatile the tech market can be.

XBox was viewed as a joke but they kept at it with their cash machine, and now they're successful.

Dreamcast was awesome but they didn't have the cash to keep at it and had to throw in the towel.

If google keeps at it, they'll sink or swim, but you have to be persistent to try to take that share.

Personally, I think google hires at a far more talented tech pool. They're doing things like VR glasses and automatic parking cars while facebook makes a big deal about integrating with Skype. So the talent is there. The money is there. The marketing is there.

We'll see how this plays out. I'm excited to see the outcome.

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