Google Ruins iGoogle Start Pages
Web design seems to work best when its design is simple and functional. That’s what I loved about iGoogle when I first discovered it several months ago. iGoogle worked perfectly as a start page – somewhere that I could easily glance at my incoming email, upcoming appointments, favorite websites, and news headlines. It was clean and easy-to-use, even when a theme was applied to add color and interest.
Today Google rolled out a major redesign of the page that shifted the navigation bar to the left and overhauled most of the gadgets that users can add to their start page. It is, in a word… ugly.
Gadgets now have more data (like previews of email messages and summaries of headlines), but the additional text makes them much harder to read. While a glance at the previous version would alert me to unread email messages, this one requires more concentration, time, and brainpower – things I’d rather use reading news articles or writing blog posts.
It seems that an overwhelming majority of iGoogle users are upset about the changes, so I’m hoping that Google listens and acts – just like they did about that insane user agreement they included with Google Chrome.
I agree completely! I really hope they have an option to set the “classic” iGoogle view as default. I don’t know why such a huge re-design wouldn’t be an opt-in sort of feature.
maximum eyestrain now, LOVED the tabs before, HATE the always visible summaries that are driving me cross-eyed
Agreed. Worst idea ever, and if I FIND the usability ‘expert’ that thought this was a great change, I’m going to stab him in the eye with my laptop.
As a designer who WAS going to use iGoogle in an 85M household market design –
The new look is unacceptable BAD “design” because adding two lines of the story under the headlines is adding JUNK clutter.
The writing world is not at present writing those first few words so they are meaningful at all. It just adds blah blah.
What was great design is now a visual mess.
The left index bar is visual JUNK because you can’t read it at a glance.
Plus, how do you port new gadgets or feed additions into a different tab category now that tabs are gone?
The answer may be there somewhere but it is no longer intuitive — as drag & drop was intuitive.
I am serious, iGoogle/Google. I will not make this visual mess the basis of any future work with my 85 million household market.
HELP! PEOPLE WHO KNOW … how do you actually talk to Google Corporate via their many cluttery blog comment areas???!!! Please drop me a line with any cues on that.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Does Google have too many people with time on their hands in their 20% projects? What is Google/ iGoogle THINKING?!
Google MUST make this new change for the junkier an OPTION. Let Google users vote with a click before they vote with their feet.
Google Corporate, we need to talk about this 85 million household market ASAP!
Edie.Frederick@gmail.com
Yeah… I’ve been slowly getting used to it, but it’s not what I want a homepage to be – it’s clunky and heavy. Maybe they’ll change back? Somehow I doubt it.
I absolutely HATE the new format, which Google changed without a word of warning. If they don’t give us the option to have the old version back, I’m finding a new homepage. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, Google!!
Even worst that the left side bar is how each article has by default two lines of text under it’s title. Really bad, eats up so much space and extremely hard to read. They messed up with this for sure.
While we’re waiting for google to do something, you can use the firefox plugin ‘userstyles’ and this style to get back to the old style.
http://userstyles.org/styles/11351
I hate the new layout. I am going back to MyYahoo.
At least I can get all my stuff on my screen and it is not as dumpy looking.
Guess Google thinks we are all using 24 inch monitors?
I will check back to see if they give an option to use the old igoogle, but I think it’s a long shot.
Too bad they screwed it up.
I totally agree. The navigation bar on the left really sucks, it only consumes space with a lot of useless links. What is worse, they didn’t even provide any way to switch to the old look & feel which I loved.
Forget iGoogle. Move on with Netvibes http://www.netvibes.com with a how-to-migrate
The new IGoogle sucks ,its taking too much space and looks uglier and totally unorganized. How stupid is this , it has links for the stuff that is right infront of your eyes. This change is just simply dumb . I thought good was all about great idea. Please fire the idiot who came up with this kind a layout!!!
Detest the new igoogle page–please get rid of the Home column to the left – what a waste and totally annoying along with all the other changes!! YUK YUK YUK
Ditto! Also not a big fan of the font change. Neat and clean interfaces, with lots of whitespace. Oh, I want my old iGoogle back. If not, I’ll have to move on to page flakes or something else.
I agree with everything said here.. I want my igoogle back?
At least they could have an option for users between old and new look.
I switched over to http://www.google.co.uk/ig since they haven’t updated there yet. When they do update it they better have an opt out button or I am going elsewhere for my homepage.
You can disable the “short description” below each feed, here’s how:
1) Click the down arrow next to your Home tab.
2) Select “Edit this tab”
3) Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and deselect the “Show a short description for each feed article” option.
4) Click “Save”
Much better :-)
Agreed. This change is terrible! Wasted space on the left side, everything too wordy. Change it back.
I read about a site on John Chow today called http://www.43marks.com – its like iGoogle but better cuz you can add you own bookmarks and the bookmarks can be websites not just gadgets and RSS feeds although you can upload your favorite RSS feeds too. Its free and totally customizable. Plus you don’t have to login to see your bookmars and RSS feeds
Horrible. Just horrible. The e-mail is not even 30% as FUNCTIONAL as the “full G-mail” option. Why, Google, why? Put it back and clean up your mess.
I’m still using it and hoping that they add the option of changing back. The really frustrating thing is that I keep getting signed out automatically. That didn’t happen before.
I absolutely hate it too and I USED TO BE a Google evangelist! I hadn’t heard/read about this so-called “improvement” and thought I accidentally changed my layout by mistake. After spending too much time trying to fix it, I did a search and found out what happened! :( I’m in agreement with many other dissatisfied users… If I don’t get an option to change it back to top tabs within the next few days, I too will find a new home page… What a shame! VERY BAD decision Google! :(
Google,
Please revert to the previous version, or at least offer it as an option. The tabs on the side are extremely inefficient with respect to space. I, also, preferred the old gmail widget. The new widgets I can probably deal with, but please lose the side tabs.
Thanks,
Brett
You can get the old setup back by doing the following:
1: Select “Change Theme”
2: Under “Create Your Own Theme” select “Learn More”
3: Under “Creating and testing themes”, use left mouse hold to copy the text in the first box: As follows-
http://www.google.co.uk/ig?skin=http://gadget-doc-examples.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/themes/theme_simple.xml
4: Paste this into your browser address box and it will give you your iGoogle Home Page with the tab back in the usual place, but without a theme.
5: Select “Change Theme” again, and pick your usual theme, and you will then have the page back to the way it was.
6: Copy and paste the address in your browser address bar into your browser “home page” settings to retain it.
Worked for me, and it hasn’t changed back. If it does for any reason, you know what to do.
Hope this helps.
EDIT: I didn’t realise the address I pasted above would be an active link. Just click that instead of copying and pasting.
Damn, I’m good. :)
dennis
thank you, worked like a charm, got my old theme back
Dennis, Thank You for the Google page font resolution…..I now use the “uk” page line as my home page. Who needs the small print(lol). We need to see as much as possible.
my gmail home page setting option does not shows the theme option plz help me
@ shinde: This article is referencing the iGoogle start page. If you want to change the theme in Gmail, you can do that under options.