On December 2, 2009 you may have noticed that Google introduced a new twist to their classic search page. This twist is what’s called a fade-in effect. Google understands that people come to their site to perform a search. As such, they are eliminating as many distractions as possible. The new design reflects that by only showing you their logo, search box and two search buttons. For those users who are interested in using a different application like Gmail, Google Image Search or Google’s advertising programs, the additional links on the homepage only reveal themselves when the user moves their mouse.
Left: Before fade-in Right: After fade-in
Google’s official announcement of this new design discusses the evolution of the fade-in effect. They tested approximately 10 variants of the fade-in effect. The one you see today tested neutral to positive on all key metrics, except for one: time to first action. At first they were concerned over this delay in user action but in the end they decided it was good for the user to notice the change, pause and then perform their task.
Minimalist Designs
Google’s minimalist design with lots of white space works. There are others who have copied the Google minimalist design in their products. Three companies that come to mind are:
Indeed and SimplyHired basically copied the entire look and feel of Google. Craigslist is simply using a design from 1999 that still works today. Some people (designers in particular) will say that Craigslist is an ugly site, but the site works. No fluff, just underlined hyperlinks, breadcrumbs and zero distractions that prevent users from browsing the classified ads efficiently. On the usability front, it’s a formula that works for them. Monetarily, maybe not.
Providing users exactly what they want without overwhelming them with advertising is something that Google has mastered. According to the latest comScore data, Google controls 65.6% of the search market and is worth over $180 billion.