Today, my new favorite web site is Google.
Yeah, yeah. It seems obvious that I would choose the most visited site in the world. But don’t be so cynical. It could be a whole lot worse. I could have chosen AOL.
I think Google is a bit underrated in design. Not because it’s so simple, but because it could be so complicated. According to InformationWeek testers complained about the load time. They were waiting for the rest of the page to load.
The great thing about Google is that, in spite of the fact that they’ve purchased a gazillion other companies, they’re still simple. Yeah, I know, they’re just throwaway companies like youtube, picasa, and functions like gmail and shopping
Think it’s impossible to clutter up your page when your main function is search? Let’s say you own 20% of the ENTIRE search market. Your page would look like google, right?
Allow me to present Exhibit A:
And they used to have banner above the search bar. Now where to I search again?
Google has stayed so true to their charter that they still have that silly “I feel lucky” button.
One of my few complaints with Google is that they do have ties to so much good content that it’s not easily accessible. The top left nav sucks. The choice of links seem to change without any rhyme or reason. I know I’m not alone here. There’s certainly room for more choices. I used to use Google shopping all the time. Now that it was taken away as a choice, I use other means- amazon, ebay. etc.
The reality is that none of this will probably matter. A lot of user are moving into the customized pages or just using their browsers’ search toolbars. At least Google remembers where its bread is buttered.
It should never forget.