When you use Google’s search engine, have you ever given any thought to what the results look like, or do you simply click on the best-looking result to retrieve your answer, which is usually spot-on. Do you look at the layout of the result, the lines, the colors, whether it’s boxed in or if it looks like an index card – probably not. Well Google looks at and studies its layouts and designs all of the time, in an effort to bring the user the most organized and easy to use design that it can possibly produce.
Interfacing with the users is important in the PC, tablet and smartphone worlds and it can either make or break the user experience and whether you find it easy and pleasant or hard and offensive to use, often determining if the user will return to use your product in the future. The Encarta Dictionary defines interface as a “point of interaction:”
The place, situation, or way in which two things or people act together or affect each other, or the point of connection between things.
Software that links a computer with another device, or the set of commands, messages, images, and other features allowing communication between computer and user.
Google’s latest design for “allowing communication between computer and user” is a card-style approach, which tested well with its mobile deployment and Google Now interface as well as a box-like approach, which I find very pleasing. This video will give you an idea of the design:
From the picture below, you can see the card-like look that Google is going for with this new design. Personally, I find the design very organized looking and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
This new tablet design is a continuing part of Google’s efforts to have some sort of standardization across all platforms, PC, Tablet, and Smartphones. By using a consistent user interface, Google can help make the user’s experience more consistent as well – always knowing where to look and what to expect, with no surprises.