Friday, May 7, 2010

Google rolled out its “Spring Clean” User Interface

In a move to boost search result relevance, Google rolled out new user interface. The new search interface has features that help users refine their search results through dynamic navigation on the left hand side. This new side panel highlights the most relevant search tools and refinements for your query.


More Search Options

Though "Everything" option remains Google's primary search experience with different types of results integrated into the main results. Users can now slice and dice search results by content type and receive more relevant search options from Google. If you don’t want ‘Everything’, you can use the ‘more’ option to switch to a particular type of result you are looking for Video, Images, Blog, Updates, Discussions, etc.


Find & Compare

Now, Google also lets you find and compare. Google Squared, available on Google Labs, helps you find and compare entities. Google's "Something different" feature builds on the technology in Google Squared to find other entities that are related to your query, so you can easily explore not only the results for your current query but other related topics.


New Changed Logo

Google has also updated its color palette and logo. These changes are slight, "keeping the page minimalist and whimsical, but to make it look more modern.


These changes are the latest in Google's continuing efforts to evolve and improve in the face of competition from other search engines like Bing and social media like Facebook and Twitter. Vice president of Search Products & User Experience at Google, Marissa Mayer says, "We want to ensure that the Google you use today is better than the one you used yesterday, and these latest changes open up many possibilities for future features and enhancements."


Whether users adopt the so called power user features and filters remains to be seen. Till then we can leverage on the advancements which Google has to offer.


Check out the video: