Google Plus Redesign Introduced New UI, More Whitespace

Google Plus  Redesign

Among Facebook, Twitter and Google+ I am still most active in Twitter but I want to be more active in all these social media and I am happy with Google Plus redesign because I know Google+ is getting stale. Having this redesign will keep the platform fresh and give way for more interaction among users.

I think it’s a great time to be a Google+ user because the new design introduced a revamped navigation and more customization. If you wonder what Google calls it, they call it “dynamic ribbon”. Now the major navigation is at the left side and you can drag icons and reorder them as you wish. You can filter your streams at the top. By default it shows all, as in everyone or everything that you have circled, but you can choose friends, family or any custom circles that you created.

The top banner now features what looks like a copy of Facebook timeline cover but you can still choose whether you want a big 960 x 185 banner or 5 little photos. The profile picture now looks even bigger when you look at the profile pages.

The new chat list at the right side looks like Facebook chat without the ticker and I actually like it better than what is on Facebook.

I think more and more social networks will move in optimizing photo sharing. Looking at how Facebook just acquired Instagram and the increasing popularity of social networks with focus on images like Tumblr and Pinterest, I am not surprised that Google+ is stepping in this direction as well.

MOAR White Space

Well, everything looks nice like except one thing– white space. There is so much white space in the new design and it is a trending topic in Google+ at the moment. If you are using  a small screen like a netbook or Macbook air, you will not see the big white space. However, if you are using bigger screen with 1080p resolution you will see something like the picture below.

 

Notice that I was able to fit 3 chat windows there without blocking any content? I am sure Google will use this white space — maybe on ads or more interactive content. You can search for #usesforwhite space to look for the parodies that users came up with.

Personally, I don’t mind the changes Google introduced. I think this version of Google+ is better than the previous one. How about you, what do you think?

Watch the video about the new Google+ below.