13 ms·

Gmail’s new look

298 points by johnnytee 15y ago

CGamesPlay 15y ago
This is a very refreshing look. They've really simplified and glossed over a lot of the details of email going on underneath. I wonder if they were able to do this in a way that still has all the features of the original, or else what didn't make the cut.
untog 15y ago
It looks good. But the one thing I do notice is that the screenshots they've provided in the blog don't have a strip of ads running down the right hand side of the page. I'll be interested to see what it looks like with those in.
- VikingCoder 15y ago
  The video shows what ads look like on the right hand side.
  - abraham 15y ago
    They also have an ad over the list of emails in the inbox. As of yet I have not seen this ad in the actual product.
    - gujk 15y ago
      That ad has been there for years. You probably turned it off and forgot.
ernestipark 15y ago
The compact view looks much much nicer than the dense version of the preview theme they have now. Hopefully they'll add a few darker lines here and there too.
orky56 15y ago
I'm very impressed. They really solved a lot of the issues I had with preview, such as multiple views for different screen sizes/resolutions. Overall, the highly visual approach allows some hidden but useful features to emerge for the average user. However, I'm still on the fence about the excessive padding on the individual email items.
- mauriciob 15y ago
  That padding is one of the only issues I have with the new layout. They should have left an option with the classic padding.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - raldi 15y ago
    Did you watch the video? At 0:23, they click the little gear and it gives three different padding options. When he selects "compact", it looks like the classic padding to me.
    - orky56 15y ago
      Even for a default template, the padding seems too much. Do you think it's the right default?
    - mauriciob 15y ago
      No, I'm commenting from experience on the preview that GMail had. I'll watch the video when I get home, but Google is having a love affair with white space on this new layout, I'm doubtful about the padding on the email list.
    - mauriciob 15y ago
      And... I was wrong :) I just switched to the new look and (after changing the density to "Compact") I could not notice a difference on the padding. It was a nice surprise. Are you working on anything related to this design?
atarian 15y ago
I absolutely love the fact that you can control the density of the emails. This was a huge deal-breaker for me with the new theme and made me go back to the old theme. I'd be more than happy to try this new look out.
- dasil003 15y ago
  Me too. I understand that the new design is visually more appealing and creates a better mood and sense of elegance for the user, but Gmail was designed for large volume email users, and it continues to be the best client for that use case, beating out every native app (at least that I've ever tried). For this type of user, packing more information on the screen is a huge usability boost. That might mean that Andy Rutledge will declare it crap and make a redux version that doesn't jab his monkey brain with a sharp stick, but it certainly doesn't mean that proportion and whitespace can't be used effectively on a more compact level.
kablamo 15y ago
You can use a theme thats similar to that video. Its been available in the Themes section of Gmail settings for several months. I find it a huge improvement.
joebadmo 15y ago
Seems like they addressed a lot of the initial gripes people had with the new UI preview. I'm hopeful that similar evolution will be coming to Google Reader.
- dmix 15y ago
  The thing I'm most impressed about is the speed at which this has come out. It seems like gmail has previously changed at a glacial speed (for better/worse). I hope they continue to improve the UX of gmail on a continuous basis.
  - timcederman 15y ago
    It gets improved continuously internally, not sure why they're slow to push the changes to the public version.
  - eneveu 15y ago
    Google is in the midst of the largest redesign in its history. There may be more to come. Here is a cool talk about this by Jon Wiley, Lead Designer for Google Search: http://vimeo.com/29965463 http://vimeo.com/29965463 He talks about GMail around 11min10s
anigbrowl 15y ago
Are other Google products using the same layout engine or are they just copying the visual appearance? I'd like to have the same layout controls available in Docs, Calendar, Reader etc.
- fleaflicker 15y ago
  Gmail and Docs both use Closure Library http://code.google.com/p/closure-library/ http://code.google.com/p/closure-library/
Kylekramer 15y ago
The new search dropdown is what I am excited about. I know that the operators were always there and advanced search was a click away, but what can I say, I am lazy.
- FrejNorling 15y ago
  Exactly my first thoughts! Like it a lot!
- p4bl0 15y ago
  I'm lazy too, and that's why I prefer to type in keywords rather than having to tab-tab-tab-tab-tab until I get to the relevant field or worse, having to grab my mouse to select the kind of search I want to do. It seems it will still be possible to type directly keywords in the field so it's okay. I hope they also let all the key-binding (for instance, '/' to focus the searchbox). Now, let's hope that the next step is not to make Gmail just a Google+ app, like they did with Google Reader.
  - willpower101 15y ago
    Hopefully they'll leave in the ability to just type in your boolean search. I prefer that method as well and send myself a lot of email so I'm often searching for stuff like [from:me has:attachment]
    - hasanove 15y ago
      using a search dropdown just adds those operators automatically, so manual typing should work exactly the same
      - espinchi 15y ago
        Which is the best way to learn those operators. The shortcut "/" to get to the search box is probably what I use the most, and writing "from:john to:mailing-list" is such a great time saver, if you compare to other mail clients.
ComputerGuru 15y ago
One thing I dislike in the new Google styling is the general lack of contrast. It makes navigation a bit slower due to delayed object recognization for power users. Everything just takes milliseconds longer to sink in.
- icebraining 15y ago
  I think it's a general trend. They were complaining about it on a panel session of IUE2011 (http://www.iue2011.com/presentation_stateofux.html http://www.iue2011.com/presentation_stateofux.html)
- devonrt 15y ago
  This is my biggest complaint as well. The new features of the UI are great, but it still looks pretty bad. There's a lot of white space and very little contrast between elements are groups of elements. The "Compose Mail" but just sort of hangs there awkwardly. The top row of action buttons are aligned to the left, so at higher resolutions there's just a chunk of whitespace to their right, even though the inbox itself fills the entire width of the container.
- timothya 15y ago
  At the same time, I find it to be a lot easier on the eyes. As a "power user" spending a lot of my day staring at my inbox, I like this a lot better. Pretty soon all of the buttons will be second-nature anyway.
- peterjmag 15y ago
  On a related note, I find it very difficult to distinguish between the white background of unread message rows from the very-slightly gray background of read rows. (Probably worth noting that I'm mildly colorblind though.) The bold subject on unread messages helps, but it isn't enough for my eyes.
  - ImprovedSilence 15y ago
    I'm not colorblind at all, and I have a hell of a time distinguishing between read and un-read mail in the new look.
brador 15y ago
I use a netbook for my gmail. This new UI is, once again, a big negative from me because of all the wasted "white space". I hate this love affair we have at the moment with white space. To me, it's wasted space. I guess I just hate scrolling or maybe I should just move to Asia.
- simondlr 15y ago
  I use a normal 15inch laptop and that wasted white space was an issue for me. Hopefully with the new theme, the 'compact' theme is compact enough.
- raldi 15y ago
  At 0:17 in the video, they resize the browser window to netbook dimensions, and all the whitespace automatically disappears.
  - jmilloy 15y ago
    That's so much nicer. I need to trick it into doing that all the time.
    - jmilloy 15y ago
      Oh. Just found the "Display Density" options.
      - ojilles 15y ago
        Took me ten minutes to realize that there are now 2 gear icons on the page. Was continually clicking the one in the "global header", but there is second one on the page where the Display Density options are located. How's that for bad UI design?
- antics 15y ago
  Inevitably when you develop web technology at scale you end up asking the question of whether you should degrade the experience of the common case to make it ~comfortable for, e.g., netbooks. Usually the answer, at least for a service like GMail, is to just ignore the netbooks. I actually think that's the right answer almost always, but I would absolutely love to hear the opposing view, as this is a position that I feel I don't fully understand.
adamdecaf 15y ago
I hope there will be a way to keep the current look, all of the new themes from Google are terrible. (As many people have stated before.)
gigawatt 15y ago
Meanwhile, my Google Apps account design is stuck 3 or 4 iterations ago.
- kenny_r 15y ago
  The "preview" skin is available on Google Apps. I activated it on a new domain yesterday: http://i.imgur.com/PoQ2F.png http://i.imgur.com/PoQ2F.png
  - bmaeser 15y ago
    where is that to be found?
    - qxb 15y ago
      Settings > Themes
      - bmaeser 15y ago
        thank you :-) (stupid me)
  - dustingetz 15y ago
    this isn't the new skin. check out the video or log into a regular gmail.
- aprescott 15y ago
  You may need to switch to the Rapid Release track, so you get new features earlier.
  - gigawatt 15y ago
    That did it. I thought I was being dense since I couldn't find the Theme setting anywhere. Thanks!
- pilif 15y ago
euroclydon 15y ago
I wonder what they did to break iPad flick to scroll on that blog post?
purephase 15y ago
The conversation view is much, much better. I can't wait to check it out.
itsnotvalid 15y ago
Beside losing Buzz I don't see much stuff happening. Besides, Google Reader is losing notes as well.
amitparikh 15y ago
I hope they have tested this new design with some of the old "Gmail Labs" modules. I've been using the "Right-Side Chat" Labs module for a long time, and so far, using the Preview Theme, resizing my browser window sometimes causes me to lose my chat box.
kirillzubovsky 15y ago
I love the use of white space and the clean looks of Gmail, but it pains me to see when "UI designers" build an interface where 20% of the screen is taken up by useless objects. I understand Google wants me to search and to use G+, but for user's sake, could you shove all that into 1 button and make it expand on click, so I could actually use my gmail screen for something like... answering emails. Is this too much to ask? Google, the new Yahoo!? p.s. No, the "compact" view doesn't really solve the problem. The objects get smaller and narrower, but the top banner still takes up all the premium space.
- acqq 15y ago
  I agree that compact view doesn't solve the problem. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3184606 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3184606 The problem are non-scrollable regions. What's next, status bar on the page and even more menus?
  - kirillzubovsky 15y ago
    I've got an idea - a ribbon!
  - watmough 15y ago
    Non-scrollable regions containing ads and doodads are a killer for me. Once this is forced on us, I will withdraw to a native client.
    - acqq 15y ago
      Also: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3184798 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3184798
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
mcherm 15y ago
So, is this real, or is this a spoof of the mess with Google Reader? (PS: I know whether this is real; I'm just phrasing it this way for ironic impact.)
aniketpant 15y ago
I love the new UI. The conversation view and the way the content flows together. It's just brilliant. Only one complaint, I want to have a more loose display than the current one, I want 'Cozy' rather than 'Compact' regardless of my screen size. I should be able to change that somewhere.
- libraryatnight 15y ago
  Display Density is adjustable when clicking the gear icon button in the upper right for me. I keep it cozy, too.
  - xtal 15y ago
    On lower resolutions, the Comfortable and Cozy options aren't available. I much prefer the look of Comfortable but am forced to use Compact.
    - libraryatnight 15y ago
      Ouch, that is unfortunate.
mikeshark 15y ago
Personally I've switched to Offline Gmail in Chrome, it's super fast and minimal.
ck2 15y ago
I get the point that designers want to design and fiddle with everything like little children, constantly, regardless of how other people have actual work to do regardless of their playtime. However constantly changing any user interface is a fantastic way to make customers furious when they can no longer find things and have to stop to adapt, over and over. Why not allow the old look to function for years instead of weeks or months. There is no way you are going to convince me google doesn't have the resources to do that, it's not a massive internal change, it's a visual layer. I really need to make a point to switch to Thunderbird and imap in 2012 - google is getting on my last nerve on every product they offer.
- jrockway 15y ago
  For every old user that hates the change, there are a million people who have never used gmail before and will like it when they switch. Why should progress be held back because you can't adapt? (I don't really like Google's new style either, but it doesn't really upset me or damage my experience in any way.)
  - megablast 15y ago
    Unlikely. People don't use gmail because of the user interface, they use it because they are locked in with their email address. New users will pick what they have heard off, or what their friends use.
    - kleiba 15y ago
      Tons of people started using gmail exactly because of the user interface. For your second point, if you really mean "locked in" (as in "my company has outsourced their email to gmail") you can always use an IMAP client. But I guess this is just a small typo and you mean "logged in" - in which case I'm not sure I can follow? Is your point that people don't like the user interface but use it anyway because their friends use it?! Not sure I buy. If no-one forces you to use gmail, don't use it. Or, again, use an IMAP client.
      - 15y ago
reduxredacted 15y ago
Based on what I've seen from this blog post, my initial impression is that I don't think I'm going to like the new Gmail UI (I haven't been able to use it, so this is based on the preview). But I'll be perfectly happy when they arrive. One of the many reasons I switched to GMail was the fact that they didn't charge to access mail from a POP3 (and now IMAP). Neither protocol is perfect (or perhaps it's the implementation in the variety of mail apps that support it), but the bottom line is that there are limitless numbers of clients that support those protocols, which allows me to abandon the web platform if I choose to. When my bride complains about the next Facebook UI overhaul, I always think of this. To clarify, I'm always stuck thinking of Facebook in terms of old-school online service like AOL with features that fit better in the 21st century...I get that it's not e-mail+ or e-mail-. And I appreciate that it has a powerful API, the usage of which allows me to avoid the UI overhauls for the limited feature-set that I enjoy. But for e-mail, I still prefer the provider with the most options. Count me in as perfectly fine with the new UI changes because I don't have to care if I don't like them.
tambourine_man 15y ago
Still won't do partial word searches. I use Gmail's backend but I can't use something that won't find “client” in “mynewclient”. Amazing that a company known for search can't provide this simple and essential feature.
kqueue 15y ago
I don't like fixed position UI and scrolling within a small section. I prefer the whole page to scroll. I am staying on the old version.
- watmough 15y ago
  "temporarily". If enough people hate this, they may slow the intro, but this may be the worst of all Clusts, the one that fails, but is hailed as a glorious success.
curiousfiddler 15y ago
I was looking to disable chat from the mail view for long. This helps. Mail == Mail now!
patrickod 15y ago
So how long before this shows up for Google Apps users? While I love Apps it's annoying that we're second hand users in terms of product releases.
- aprescott 15y ago
  I was somewhat surprised to learn: it's available immediately. 2 minutes after they posted on Twitter that it's now available to everyone, I followed their steps of closing Tasks and Chat windows, hit refresh, clicked the link. Done. (You may need to be on the Rapid Release track.)
  - hasanove 15y ago
    I also had to close Tasks in bottom right corner, to see a button to switch to new design.
  - patrickod 15y ago
    Wow I didn't realise Google had changed their tone RE: Apps users. Brilliant
joejohnson 15y ago
I'm seeing ads now, which I have blocked for a while with AdBlock. Does anyone know how to block ads in the new gmail?
- Raphael 15y ago
  EasyList subscription. This filter rule was triggered: &view=ad&
  - joejohnson 15y ago
    I'm not sure I understand. I'm have EasyList selected (and I just updated it). I'm still seeing the ads at the very top of the inbox. Are you saying "&view=ad&" was triggered? Or that I need to add this and it will be triggered?
    - Raphael 15y ago
      It was triggered.
rnadna 15y ago
Web-based "apps" have this great feature: updates require no work on the part of the user. And they have this terrible bug: updates require no work on the part of the user. With real (i.e. native) software, users get to decide. Important deadline approaching? Click "not now" for any and all updates.
BoppreH 15y ago
One unmentioned feature I loved is the ability to hide the chat and "invite" sidebars. On the lower left corner there's two unobtrusive buttons to toggle chat and invite (does anyone use that?) visibility. I'm still waiting for a UI where I can just drag the components I need, a la browser's toolbars.
- twodayslate 15y ago
  I have Gtalk and Tasks. I don't see why I can't put them on the same sidebar though. There should be an option for that?
tambourine_man 15y ago
The blog doesn't work on iPhone 3G btw.
- anothermachine 15y ago
  Google came out with this "Dynamic Styles" thing for Blogger a few weeks ago, which completely broke Blogger blogs for mobile devices, with no way to disable it.
- jrgnsd 15y ago
  Didn't work on my Android phone either. I find it very interesting that a blog post written by a User Experience Designer on the new interface for a major web app doesn't work on mobile devices. Especially since Google also just launched GoMo.
jebblue 15y ago
If they fix the black menu back to what it is now nice easy to read white background then I'll be glad to switch.
davux 15y ago
Each time Google updates Gmail, there is another hit on accessibility for visually impaired users. With each new version, zooming makes the content area smaller and smaller, while making the (significantly less useful) editing elements and other mostly uninteresting things larger and larger. Adding more padding and reducing contrast is completely at odds with accessibility (and, potentially, a good desktop mail experience). I think I can still get by with Gmail at high zoom, but one or two more changes and I’ll have no choice but to jump ship to something else (or go fulltime with Outlook, which is overkill for personal mail). It makes me really sad to see that accessibility is getting worse at Google, not better. The problem isn't limited to Gmail, it's also now in core search and probably just about everything else since the G+ wave of updates. :(
- ImprovedSilence 15y ago
  I've been thinking of jumping the Google ship these days. Dropbox killed google docs for me, G+ didn't attract enough of my friends for it to be worth my time, Google reader went from my favorite waste of time, to outta sight, outta mind, Gmail got rid of my custom color scheme, and makes it impossible to read big long email threads all at once, and I can't even tell which emails I'v read the contrast is so effin bad. The only thing I'd have a hard time leaving is chrome, but I just bought my first mac, and Safari doesn't seem too bad. Google is still a powerhouse, but I wonder if they didn't just do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE
aantix 15y ago
Why don't the mail message rows alternate in color?
ImprovedSilence 15y ago
Um, does anyone know how to carry over a custom color scheme? or is it possible to create new custom colors, I don't see that option in themes...
navs 15y ago
Google Apps users, is there any way to permanently get rid of that black strip on the bottom right advertising the marketplace and now, the new look?
- abraham 15y ago
  Your best bet is probably to either find/build a userscript or just never close your tab.
- cade 15y ago
  Check the element's class/id. Create a user stylesheet for your browser. Set the element to display:none. Profit.
twodayslate 15y ago
I am liking the way their new design is going. In my opinion it is getting better and better. Conversations are much cleaner now and easier to read.
pg_bot 15y ago
Display density doesn't work in my browser (chrome on a Macbook pro) it says it only works on larger displays. Since my browser takes up all of my screen's real estate I don't understand why I am having this issue. As a side note, if you want to see a failure of customer service design, take a look at their feedback form page and count the number of unnecessary form fields.
ashcairo 15y ago
Runs slow on Firefox. Don't upgrade.
andrewljohnson 15y ago
I use labels aggressively, but I monitor the numbers next to the labels to see if I have stuff coming in rapidly. When I tried the new GMail interface, it hid a bunch of important labels, requiring me to hover over that section to check if I was getting emails from particular projects and groups of people. That broke my email workflow, so I had to switch back to the old interface. Hopefully, the comments I sent to the GMail team didn't fall on deaf ears - I really don't want to rework how I do email. It must be tough working on a product that is so core to people's life and work. The changes in XCode never sit well with me either.
- jamesgeck0 15y ago
  You can drag and drop labels out of the "More" box into the main view. I don't know if there's a limit to how many labels you can do that with though.
h6165 15y ago
The biggest problem with the new UI is that it is entirely new. I have to learn it all over again.
rayk 15y ago
Not about GMail, but does anyone else find Google's new blog templates to be annoying? Chrome and Firefox optimized away much of the 500msec or less it takes for the page to render, and I don't want to have to spend that time watching the loading logo instead. Plus there are unavoidable animations for every page I try to access, but they're slow and make my netbook lag. I like being able to access the alternative views, but some of them seem clearly oriented towards photo blogs and turn into a pastiche of menus and grids, defeating the point of making the blog more usable for the reader (I have to try click on each one to see what it does?). /complain
- gujk 15y ago
  I you use a mobile browser, you won't get the 0.5 sec delay, you'll immediately see "Dynamic Views are not supported on your device".
VonLipwig 15y ago
I mostly don't like it. The left sidebar pops open, thats great! However, read messages now have a lifeless grey background. The archive buttons have been replaced with icons. I can now only see half the amount of messages per screen due to the increased spacing. Its disappointing.
- krmmalik 15y ago
  Yeah, i have to say mostly when new UIs are introduced i generally like or prefer them, but this time round im not too happy. Individual email threads are much harder to distinguish and due to the increase in information its harder to concentrate on the actual email body itself.
- andrewdrane 15y ago
  Just found how to adjust spacing - click on the gear in the upper right, and choose 'compact' from the display density. I'm much happier now that I've found that.
danmaz74 15y ago
I just tried it live, and I found that when reading a message the ads on the right are really too prominent. Is it just my impression?
- gujk 15y ago
  What is an "ad"?
  - danmaz74 15y ago
    I meant advertising. By the way, I found out that that effect is very marked only when zooming in the browser. At zoom=100% the ads aren't so invasive.
- gujk 15y ago
  What is an "ad"?
- gujk 15y ago
  What is an "ad"?
- tyohn 15y ago
  That is the exact comment I gave to Google (via the feed back link) when I changed back to the "old" version.
djhworld 15y ago
The font on the 'compose' and 'send' buttons seem a little blurry to me
bilban 15y ago
Damn it! The new Gmail is broken for me on Firefox Nightly on Debian Squeeze AMD64. I can't open any messages!
yaix 15y ago
Help!! With all the none-scrolling stuff the new design has, on my netbook I have only some 600x300 pixels left to see the actual email message. To read the email message is the reasong I am opening Gmail! I don't care about a static user account bar, a static search bar, a static action buttons bar, a static folder and tags sidebar, etc. All that c%#p should be scrolling! It's a web page! Is there any fix for this in the Gmail settings?
- yaix 15y ago
  I am serious. Is there an option in the settings to make all elements scroll again? It's not like I am the only one who prefers a small screen. The many position:fixed elements is a major flaw in this new design.
ericd 15y ago
They seem to have fixed the speed issues, which was my main gripe with gmail up to this point. F'ing terrible in the usability department, though, especially on the default super-spaced view - it makes it much harder to scan quickly, and lets you see half the number of emails in the same vertical space. The wide open space with no border between panes is also really annoying. Adding a border-right on the folder pane via firebug/whatever brings it almost back to being bearable.
kahawe 15y ago
> Better search I seriously hope they would _FINALLY_ include some sort of sub-string search as the lack of it really makes their mail search pretty much unusable unless you know exactly what you are looking for but I have a huge mail archive that goes a good 10+ years back - and that is google we are talking about, of all companies. I would be totally fine if they limit me to just 2 or 3 sub-string searches a day and then just grep through my mails if that's what it takes but come on people, this feature has been requested ages ago and there surely are ways to implement this without breaking your servers' backs.
cpara 15y ago
I've read the threads re: netbook but haven't seen my problem with the new look. I chose Compact for the density, but when I Reply, write a return email to someone - lo and behold, I can no longer scroll up to hit Send. It is hidden by the new icon bar - surely I am not the only netbook user with this problem? 10.2 inch screen, Gateway computer, Chrome browser...yeah. Any ideas? I won't change this netbook to the 'new look' unless I can figure this out - guess I'll have to use Thunderbird or something. I'd rather not. Thanks for any help.

298 points by johnnytee 15y ago

This is a very refreshing look. They've really simplified and glossed over a lot of the details of email going on underneath. I wonder if they were able to do this in a way that still has all the features of the original, or else what didn't make the cut.

untog 15y ago

It looks good. But the one thing I do notice is that the screenshots they've provided in the blog don't have a strip of ads running down the right hand side of the page. I'll be interested to see what it looks like with those in.

VikingCoder 15y ago
The video shows what ads look like on the right hand side.
- abraham 15y ago
  They also have an ad over the list of emails in the inbox. As of yet I have not seen this ad in the actual product.
  - gujk 15y ago
    That ad has been there for years. You probably turned it off and forgot.

ernestipark 15y ago

The compact view looks much much nicer than the dense version of the preview theme they have now. Hopefully they'll add a few darker lines here and there too.

orky56 15y ago

I'm very impressed. They really solved a lot of the issues I had with preview, such as multiple views for different screen sizes/resolutions. Overall, the highly visual approach allows some hidden but useful features to emerge for the average user. However, I'm still on the fence about the excessive padding on the individual email items.

mauriciob 15y ago
That padding is one of the only issues I have with the new layout. They should have left an option with the classic padding.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- raldi 15y ago
  Did you watch the video? At 0:23, they click the little gear and it gives three different padding options. When he selects "compact", it looks like the classic padding to me.
  - orky56 15y ago
    Even for a default template, the padding seems too much. Do you think it's the right default?
  - mauriciob 15y ago
    No, I'm commenting from experience on the preview that GMail had. I'll watch the video when I get home, but Google is having a love affair with white space on this new layout, I'm doubtful about the padding on the email list.
  - mauriciob 15y ago
    And... I was wrong :) I just switched to the new look and (after changing the density to "Compact") I could not notice a difference on the padding. It was a nice surprise. Are you working on anything related to this design?

atarian 15y ago

I absolutely love the fact that you can control the density of the emails. This was a huge deal-breaker for me with the new theme and made me go back to the old theme. I'd be more than happy to try this new look out.

dasil003 15y ago
Me too. I understand that the new design is visually more appealing and creates a better mood and sense of elegance for the user, but Gmail was designed for large volume email users, and it continues to be the best client for that use case, beating out every native app (at least that I've ever tried). For this type of user, packing more information on the screen is a huge usability boost. That might mean that Andy Rutledge will declare it crap and make a redux version that doesn't jab his monkey brain with a sharp stick, but it certainly doesn't mean that proportion and whitespace can't be used effectively on a more compact level.

kablamo 15y ago

You can use a theme thats similar to that video. Its been available in the Themes section of Gmail settings for several months. I find it a huge improvement.

joebadmo 15y ago

Seems like they addressed a lot of the initial gripes people had with the new UI preview. I'm hopeful that similar evolution will be coming to Google Reader.

dmix 15y ago
The thing I'm most impressed about is the speed at which this has come out. It seems like gmail has previously changed at a glacial speed (for better/worse). I hope they continue to improve the UX of gmail on a continuous basis.
- timcederman 15y ago
  It gets improved continuously internally, not sure why they're slow to push the changes to the public version.
- eneveu 15y ago
  Google is in the midst of the largest redesign in its history. There may be more to come. Here is a cool talk about this by Jon Wiley, Lead Designer for Google Search: http://vimeo.com/29965463 http://vimeo.com/29965463 He talks about GMail around 11min10s

anigbrowl 15y ago

Are other Google products using the same layout engine or are they just copying the visual appearance? I'd like to have the same layout controls available in Docs, Calendar, Reader etc.

fleaflicker 15y ago
Gmail and Docs both use Closure Library http://code.google.com/p/closure-library/ http://code.google.com/p/closure-library/

Kylekramer 15y ago

The new search dropdown is what I am excited about. I know that the operators were always there and advanced search was a click away, but what can I say, I am lazy.

FrejNorling 15y ago
Exactly my first thoughts! Like it a lot!
p4bl0 15y ago
I'm lazy too, and that's why I prefer to type in keywords rather than having to tab-tab-tab-tab-tab until I get to the relevant field or worse, having to grab my mouse to select the kind of search I want to do. It seems it will still be possible to type directly keywords in the field so it's okay. I hope they also let all the key-binding (for instance, '/' to focus the searchbox). Now, let's hope that the next step is not to make Gmail just a Google+ app, like they did with Google Reader.
- willpower101 15y ago
  Hopefully they'll leave in the ability to just type in your boolean search. I prefer that method as well and send myself a lot of email so I'm often searching for stuff like [from:me has:attachment]
  - hasanove 15y ago
    using a search dropdown just adds those operators automatically, so manual typing should work exactly the same
    - espinchi 15y ago
      Which is the best way to learn those operators. The shortcut "/" to get to the search box is probably what I use the most, and writing "from:john to:mailing-list" is such a great time saver, if you compare to other mail clients.

ComputerGuru 15y ago

One thing I dislike in the new Google styling is the general lack of contrast. It makes navigation a bit slower due to delayed object recognization for power users. Everything just takes milliseconds longer to sink in.

icebraining 15y ago
I think it's a general trend. They were complaining about it on a panel session of IUE2011 (http://www.iue2011.com/presentation_stateofux.html http://www.iue2011.com/presentation_stateofux.html)
devonrt 15y ago
This is my biggest complaint as well. The new features of the UI are great, but it still looks pretty bad. There's a lot of white space and very little contrast between elements are groups of elements. The "Compose Mail" but just sort of hangs there awkwardly. The top row of action buttons are aligned to the left, so at higher resolutions there's just a chunk of whitespace to their right, even though the inbox itself fills the entire width of the container.
timothya 15y ago
At the same time, I find it to be a lot easier on the eyes. As a "power user" spending a lot of my day staring at my inbox, I like this a lot better. Pretty soon all of the buttons will be second-nature anyway.
peterjmag 15y ago
On a related note, I find it very difficult to distinguish between the white background of unread message rows from the very-slightly gray background of read rows. (Probably worth noting that I'm mildly colorblind though.) The bold subject on unread messages helps, but it isn't enough for my eyes.
- ImprovedSilence 15y ago
  I'm not colorblind at all, and I have a hell of a time distinguishing between read and un-read mail in the new look.

brador 15y ago

I use a netbook for my gmail. This new UI is, once again, a big negative from me because of all the wasted "white space". I hate this love affair we have at the moment with white space. To me, it's wasted space. I guess I just hate scrolling or maybe I should just move to Asia.

simondlr 15y ago
I use a normal 15inch laptop and that wasted white space was an issue for me. Hopefully with the new theme, the 'compact' theme is compact enough.
raldi 15y ago
At 0:17 in the video, they resize the browser window to netbook dimensions, and all the whitespace automatically disappears.
- jmilloy 15y ago
  That's so much nicer. I need to trick it into doing that all the time.
  - jmilloy 15y ago
    Oh. Just found the "Display Density" options.
    - ojilles 15y ago
      Took me ten minutes to realize that there are now 2 gear icons on the page. Was continually clicking the one in the "global header", but there is second one on the page where the Display Density options are located. How's that for bad UI design?
antics 15y ago
Inevitably when you develop web technology at scale you end up asking the question of whether you should degrade the experience of the common case to make it ~comfortable for, e.g., netbooks. Usually the answer, at least for a service like GMail, is to just ignore the netbooks. I actually think that's the right answer almost always, but I would absolutely love to hear the opposing view, as this is a position that I feel I don't fully understand.

adamdecaf 15y ago

I hope there will be a way to keep the current look, all of the new themes from Google are terrible. (As many people have stated before.)

gigawatt 15y ago

Meanwhile, my Google Apps account design is stuck 3 or 4 iterations ago.

kenny_r 15y ago
The "preview" skin is available on Google Apps. I activated it on a new domain yesterday: http://i.imgur.com/PoQ2F.png http://i.imgur.com/PoQ2F.png
- bmaeser 15y ago
  where is that to be found?
  - qxb 15y ago
    Settings > Themes
    - bmaeser 15y ago
      thank you :-) (stupid me)
- dustingetz 15y ago
  this isn't the new skin. check out the video or log into a regular gmail.
aprescott 15y ago
You may need to switch to the Rapid Release track, so you get new features earlier.
- gigawatt 15y ago
  That did it. I thought I was being dense since I couldn't find the Theme setting anywhere. Thanks!
pilif 15y ago

euroclydon 15y ago

I wonder what they did to break iPad flick to scroll on that blog post?

purephase 15y ago

The conversation view is much, much better. I can't wait to check it out.

itsnotvalid 15y ago

Beside losing Buzz I don't see much stuff happening. Besides, Google Reader is losing notes as well.

amitparikh 15y ago

I hope they have tested this new design with some of the old "Gmail Labs" modules. I've been using the "Right-Side Chat" Labs module for a long time, and so far, using the Preview Theme, resizing my browser window sometimes causes me to lose my chat box.

kirillzubovsky 15y ago

I love the use of white space and the clean looks of Gmail, but it pains me to see when "UI designers" build an interface where 20% of the screen is taken up by useless objects. I understand Google wants me to search and to use G+, but for user's sake, could you shove all that into 1 button and make it expand on click, so I could actually use my gmail screen for something like... answering emails. Is this too much to ask? Google, the new Yahoo!? p.s. No, the "compact" view doesn't really solve the problem. The objects get smaller and narrower, but the top banner still takes up all the premium space.

acqq 15y ago
I agree that compact view doesn't solve the problem. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3184606 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3184606 The problem are non-scrollable regions. What's next, status bar on the page and even more menus?
- kirillzubovsky 15y ago
  I've got an idea - a ribbon!
- watmough 15y ago
  Non-scrollable regions containing ads and doodads are a killer for me. Once this is forced on us, I will withdraw to a native client.
  - acqq 15y ago
    Also: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3184798 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3184798

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

mcherm 15y ago

So, is this real, or is this a spoof of the mess with Google Reader? (PS: I know whether this is real; I'm just phrasing it this way for ironic impact.)

aniketpant 15y ago

I love the new UI. The conversation view and the way the content flows together. It's just brilliant. Only one complaint, I want to have a more loose display than the current one, I want 'Cozy' rather than 'Compact' regardless of my screen size. I should be able to change that somewhere.

libraryatnight 15y ago
Display Density is adjustable when clicking the gear icon button in the upper right for me. I keep it cozy, too.
- xtal 15y ago
  On lower resolutions, the Comfortable and Cozy options aren't available. I much prefer the look of Comfortable but am forced to use Compact.
  - libraryatnight 15y ago
    Ouch, that is unfortunate.

mikeshark 15y ago

Personally I've switched to Offline Gmail in Chrome, it's super fast and minimal.

ck2 15y ago

I get the point that designers want to design and fiddle with everything like little children, constantly, regardless of how other people have actual work to do regardless of their playtime. However constantly changing any user interface is a fantastic way to make customers furious when they can no longer find things and have to stop to adapt, over and over. Why not allow the old look to function for years instead of weeks or months. There is no way you are going to convince me google doesn't have the resources to do that, it's not a massive internal change, it's a visual layer. I really need to make a point to switch to Thunderbird and imap in 2012 - google is getting on my last nerve on every product they offer.

jrockway 15y ago
For every old user that hates the change, there are a million people who have never used gmail before and will like it when they switch. Why should progress be held back because you can't adapt? (I don't really like Google's new style either, but it doesn't really upset me or damage my experience in any way.)
- megablast 15y ago
  Unlikely. People don't use gmail because of the user interface, they use it because they are locked in with their email address. New users will pick what they have heard off, or what their friends use.
  - kleiba 15y ago
    Tons of people started using gmail exactly because of the user interface. For your second point, if you really mean "locked in" (as in "my company has outsourced their email to gmail") you can always use an IMAP client. But I guess this is just a small typo and you mean "logged in" - in which case I'm not sure I can follow? Is your point that people don't like the user interface but use it anyway because their friends use it?! Not sure I buy. If no-one forces you to use gmail, don't use it. Or, again, use an IMAP client.
    - 15y ago

reduxredacted 15y ago

Based on what I've seen from this blog post, my initial impression is that I don't think I'm going to like the new Gmail UI (I haven't been able to use it, so this is based on the preview). But I'll be perfectly happy when they arrive. One of the many reasons I switched to GMail was the fact that they didn't charge to access mail from a POP3 (and now IMAP). Neither protocol is perfect (or perhaps it's the implementation in the variety of mail apps that support it), but the bottom line is that there are limitless numbers of clients that support those protocols, which allows me to abandon the web platform if I choose to. When my bride complains about the next Facebook UI overhaul, I always think of this. To clarify, I'm always stuck thinking of Facebook in terms of old-school online service like AOL with features that fit better in the 21st century...I get that it's not e-mail+ or e-mail-. And I appreciate that it has a powerful API, the usage of which allows me to avoid the UI overhauls for the limited feature-set that I enjoy. But for e-mail, I still prefer the provider with the most options. Count me in as perfectly fine with the new UI changes because I don't have to care if I don't like them.

tambourine_man 15y ago

Still won't do partial word searches. I use Gmail's backend but I can't use something that won't find “client” in “mynewclient”. Amazing that a company known for search can't provide this simple and essential feature.

kqueue 15y ago

I don't like fixed position UI and scrolling within a small section. I prefer the whole page to scroll. I am staying on the old version.

watmough 15y ago
"temporarily". If enough people hate this, they may slow the intro, but this may be the worst of all Clusts, the one that fails, but is hailed as a glorious success.

curiousfiddler 15y ago

I was looking to disable chat from the mail view for long. This helps. Mail == Mail now!

patrickod 15y ago

So how long before this shows up for Google Apps users? While I love Apps it's annoying that we're second hand users in terms of product releases.

aprescott 15y ago
I was somewhat surprised to learn: it's available immediately. 2 minutes after they posted on Twitter that it's now available to everyone, I followed their steps of closing Tasks and Chat windows, hit refresh, clicked the link. Done. (You may need to be on the Rapid Release track.)
- hasanove 15y ago
  I also had to close Tasks in bottom right corner, to see a button to switch to new design.
- patrickod 15y ago
  Wow I didn't realise Google had changed their tone RE: Apps users. Brilliant

joejohnson 15y ago

I'm seeing ads now, which I have blocked for a while with AdBlock. Does anyone know how to block ads in the new gmail?

Raphael 15y ago
EasyList subscription. This filter rule was triggered: &view=ad&
- joejohnson 15y ago
  I'm not sure I understand. I'm have EasyList selected (and I just updated it). I'm still seeing the ads at the very top of the inbox. Are you saying "&view=ad&" was triggered? Or that I need to add this and it will be triggered?
  - Raphael 15y ago
    It was triggered.

rnadna 15y ago

Web-based "apps" have this great feature: updates require no work on the part of the user. And they have this terrible bug: updates require no work on the part of the user. With real (i.e. native) software, users get to decide. Important deadline approaching? Click "not now" for any and all updates.

BoppreH 15y ago

One unmentioned feature I loved is the ability to hide the chat and "invite" sidebars. On the lower left corner there's two unobtrusive buttons to toggle chat and invite (does anyone use that?) visibility. I'm still waiting for a UI where I can just drag the components I need, a la browser's toolbars.

twodayslate 15y ago
I have Gtalk and Tasks. I don't see why I can't put them on the same sidebar though. There should be an option for that?

tambourine_man 15y ago

The blog doesn't work on iPhone 3G btw.

anothermachine 15y ago
Google came out with this "Dynamic Styles" thing for Blogger a few weeks ago, which completely broke Blogger blogs for mobile devices, with no way to disable it.
jrgnsd 15y ago
Didn't work on my Android phone either. I find it very interesting that a blog post written by a User Experience Designer on the new interface for a major web app doesn't work on mobile devices. Especially since Google also just launched GoMo.

jebblue 15y ago

If they fix the black menu back to what it is now nice easy to read white background then I'll be glad to switch.

davux 15y ago

Each time Google updates Gmail, there is another hit on accessibility for visually impaired users. With each new version, zooming makes the content area smaller and smaller, while making the (significantly less useful) editing elements and other mostly uninteresting things larger and larger. Adding more padding and reducing contrast is completely at odds with accessibility (and, potentially, a good desktop mail experience). I think I can still get by with Gmail at high zoom, but one or two more changes and I’ll have no choice but to jump ship to something else (or go fulltime with Outlook, which is overkill for personal mail). It makes me really sad to see that accessibility is getting worse at Google, not better. The problem isn't limited to Gmail, it's also now in core search and probably just about everything else since the G+ wave of updates. :(

ImprovedSilence 15y ago
I've been thinking of jumping the Google ship these days. Dropbox killed google docs for me, G+ didn't attract enough of my friends for it to be worth my time, Google reader went from my favorite waste of time, to outta sight, outta mind, Gmail got rid of my custom color scheme, and makes it impossible to read big long email threads all at once, and I can't even tell which emails I'v read the contrast is so effin bad. The only thing I'd have a hard time leaving is chrome, but I just bought my first mac, and Safari doesn't seem too bad. Google is still a powerhouse, but I wonder if they didn't just do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpraJYnbVtE

aantix 15y ago

Why don't the mail message rows alternate in color?

ImprovedSilence 15y ago

Um, does anyone know how to carry over a custom color scheme? or is it possible to create new custom colors, I don't see that option in themes...

navs 15y ago

Google Apps users, is there any way to permanently get rid of that black strip on the bottom right advertising the marketplace and now, the new look?

abraham 15y ago
Your best bet is probably to either find/build a userscript or just never close your tab.
cade 15y ago
Check the element's class/id. Create a user stylesheet for your browser. Set the element to display:none. Profit.

twodayslate 15y ago

I am liking the way their new design is going. In my opinion it is getting better and better. Conversations are much cleaner now and easier to read.

pg_bot 15y ago

Display density doesn't work in my browser (chrome on a Macbook pro) it says it only works on larger displays. Since my browser takes up all of my screen's real estate I don't understand why I am having this issue. As a side note, if you want to see a failure of customer service design, take a look at their feedback form page and count the number of unnecessary form fields.

ashcairo 15y ago

Runs slow on Firefox. Don't upgrade.

andrewljohnson 15y ago

I use labels aggressively, but I monitor the numbers next to the labels to see if I have stuff coming in rapidly. When I tried the new GMail interface, it hid a bunch of important labels, requiring me to hover over that section to check if I was getting emails from particular projects and groups of people. That broke my email workflow, so I had to switch back to the old interface. Hopefully, the comments I sent to the GMail team didn't fall on deaf ears - I really don't want to rework how I do email. It must be tough working on a product that is so core to people's life and work. The changes in XCode never sit well with me either.

jamesgeck0 15y ago
You can drag and drop labels out of the "More" box into the main view. I don't know if there's a limit to how many labels you can do that with though.

h6165 15y ago

The biggest problem with the new UI is that it is entirely new. I have to learn it all over again.

rayk 15y ago

Not about GMail, but does anyone else find Google's new blog templates to be annoying? Chrome and Firefox optimized away much of the 500msec or less it takes for the page to render, and I don't want to have to spend that time watching the loading logo instead. Plus there are unavoidable animations for every page I try to access, but they're slow and make my netbook lag. I like being able to access the alternative views, but some of them seem clearly oriented towards photo blogs and turn into a pastiche of menus and grids, defeating the point of making the blog more usable for the reader (I have to try click on each one to see what it does?). /complain

gujk 15y ago
I you use a mobile browser, you won't get the 0.5 sec delay, you'll immediately see "Dynamic Views are not supported on your device".

VonLipwig 15y ago

I mostly don't like it. The left sidebar pops open, thats great! However, read messages now have a lifeless grey background. The archive buttons have been replaced with icons. I can now only see half the amount of messages per screen due to the increased spacing. Its disappointing.

krmmalik 15y ago
Yeah, i have to say mostly when new UIs are introduced i generally like or prefer them, but this time round im not too happy. Individual email threads are much harder to distinguish and due to the increase in information its harder to concentrate on the actual email body itself.
andrewdrane 15y ago
Just found how to adjust spacing - click on the gear in the upper right, and choose 'compact' from the display density. I'm much happier now that I've found that.

danmaz74 15y ago

I just tried it live, and I found that when reading a message the ads on the right are really too prominent. Is it just my impression?

gujk 15y ago
What is an "ad"?
- danmaz74 15y ago
  I meant advertising. By the way, I found out that that effect is very marked only when zooming in the browser. At zoom=100% the ads aren't so invasive.
gujk 15y ago
What is an "ad"?
gujk 15y ago
What is an "ad"?
tyohn 15y ago
That is the exact comment I gave to Google (via the feed back link) when I changed back to the "old" version.

djhworld 15y ago

The font on the 'compose' and 'send' buttons seem a little blurry to me

bilban 15y ago

Damn it! The new Gmail is broken for me on Firefox Nightly on Debian Squeeze AMD64. I can't open any messages!

yaix 15y ago

Help!! With all the none-scrolling stuff the new design has, on my netbook I have only some 600x300 pixels left to see the actual email message. To read the email message is the reasong I am opening Gmail! I don't care about a static user account bar, a static search bar, a static action buttons bar, a static folder and tags sidebar, etc. All that c%#p should be scrolling! It's a web page! Is there any fix for this in the Gmail settings?

yaix 15y ago
I am serious. Is there an option in the settings to make all elements scroll again? It's not like I am the only one who prefers a small screen. The many position:fixed elements is a major flaw in this new design.

ericd 15y ago

They seem to have fixed the speed issues, which was my main gripe with gmail up to this point. F'ing terrible in the usability department, though, especially on the default super-spaced view - it makes it much harder to scan quickly, and lets you see half the number of emails in the same vertical space. The wide open space with no border between panes is also really annoying. Adding a border-right on the folder pane via firebug/whatever brings it almost back to being bearable.

kahawe 15y ago

> Better search I seriously hope they would _FINALLY_ include some sort of sub-string search as the lack of it really makes their mail search pretty much unusable unless you know exactly what you are looking for but I have a huge mail archive that goes a good 10+ years back - and that is google we are talking about, of all companies. I would be totally fine if they limit me to just 2 or 3 sub-string searches a day and then just grep through my mails if that's what it takes but come on people, this feature has been requested ages ago and there surely are ways to implement this without breaking your servers' backs.

cpara 15y ago

I've read the threads re: netbook but haven't seen my problem with the new look. I chose Compact for the density, but when I Reply, write a return email to someone - lo and behold, I can no longer scroll up to hit Send. It is hidden by the new icon bar - surely I am not the only netbook user with this problem? 10.2 inch screen, Gateway computer, Chrome browser...yeah. Any ideas? I won't change this netbook to the 'new look' unless I can figure this out - guess I'll have to use Thunderbird or something. I'd rather not. Thanks for any help.