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'A Fresh, Clean Look.' Gmail Is About To Get a Makeover (fortune.com)

Google says it is working on a big refresh for Gmail on the web. From a report: The upgrade was revealed in a message from Google to administrators of G Suite accounts -- G Suite being the suite of Google services that organizations can use on their own web domains, rather than Google's. The message stated that the changes would be coming to consumer Gmail accounts, as well as G Suite accounts. Google said the refresh would include not only a "fresh, clean look for Gmail on the web," but also easy ways to access other Google services, such as Google Calendar, from the Gmail web app. The company recently started winding down its Chrome apps for all platforms but Google's own Chrome OS. Windows, Mac and Linux users are now being encouraged to instead use Google's web apps, and it's only logical that those interfaces are now getting upgraded to include the functionality that would otherwise be lost. The Verge has screenshots of the new interface.

149 comments

  1. What the fuck. No! by DarkRookie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't touch GMail. It is your only product still worth half a damn. Your Material Design system sucks. No one but you wants this refresh
    Anyone have a different/better free email service.

    --
    The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
    1. Re: What the fuck. No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I for one welcome our new I.T. closet cleaner dependable overlord.

    2. Re: What the fuck. No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I stared using zoho mail ~2 years ago, it's been good so far! My only complaint is they have a very low daily limit for IMAP requests, so regular use from a 3rd party client doesn't work well. But their web interface (with tabs!) and phone app is good.

    3. Re:What the fuck. No! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The screenshots all have two mails in the inbox, so it's hard to tell how well mails are separated in the list.

      I hope they include a dark mode. I turn down the brightness and contrast on my monitors anyway, I don't need a bright light shining in my face all day.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:What the fuck. No! by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm mostly anti-change on websites, but... I'm not with you on Material Design. At all. It's a great system that fixes most of the crap that UX designers have been foisting on us. It has faults, but it brings back the use of 3D after years of this obsession with flat UIs, it's easy to see what's touchable and what isn't, it works well on both mobile and desktop UIs (so you're not having to switch between two languages for icons for example), and it's pretty clean and elegant using - something I wouldn't say has ever been true of GMail.

      I saw the screenshots. They don't look worse than GMail does already. I'm hopeful this is positive change, and, for older hardware, that they leave the original UI (not the current one, but the "HTML mode" thing) available for those who need something lighter.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    5. Re:What the fuck. No! by DarkRookie · · Score: 2

      OK. I would like some examples of these.
      I don't see 3d beyond the floating button and those terrible cards. I always have issues on what is selectable or not.
      It might be clean looking, but it is not elegant. Everything is way to large.

      --
      The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
    6. Re:What the fuck. No! by Script+Cat · · Score: 1

      Just when you thought you knew where everything was. Time to windows 8 the interface.

    7. Re:What the fuck. No! by Merk42 · · Score: 1

      No one but you wants this refresh

      I do/don't want X, therefore everyone does/doesn't want X!
      Everyone thinks like I do and if they don't they are in the wrong!

    8. Re:What the fuck. No! by MightyYar · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I wouldn't have a major problem with it if I could understand the purpose, and if they would stop removing features.

      I don't understand the purpose of a phone-friendly gmail web page when they have gmail apps everywhere.

      One example of a removed feature is when they revamped the Google Voice webpage, they removed quite a few things - but most notably for me was the ability to email voicemail messages... this was useful to me because our home phone uses Google Voice and I could send my wife's messages to her.

      In general, the information content is far lower with the redesign. Good for phones, where I don't use it. Bad for desktops/laptops with high-res monitors.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    9. Re:What the fuck. No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Classic /. response. What the fuck change?! NOOOOO

      Come on, this clearly looks to be a subtle, modern improvement. This community needs to stop being so anti-change.

    10. Re:What the fuck. No! by Hadlock · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I agree, Material Design doesn't solve any problems for me. Gmail is an app that displays a lot of information, and as near as I can tell, designers HATE having more than one piece of information on the screen at a time. I worked for an enterprise software development company and our designer kept trying to push our app from being an information rich, wonderful app for IT staff, to this Uber-inspired single-use, single datapoint dashboard. It's been a continuous disaster and the company largely failed due to the design team's insistence on transforming the application in to the single-use java app that designers apparently train for in school.
       
      I get that many users can't concentrate on a lot of data, but gmail is well laid out and doesn't need a change. Microsoft effectively nailed the email client workflow back in Outlook Express 3 and everyone has been using that template since Windows 3.1. I see no reason to change it at this point. A lot of design gets made/created, it seems, simply because designers need to validate their job(s) at the company. There are a lot of badly designed apps out there, but gmail is not one of them.
       
      Google News website is another good example of the design team running roughshod over an amazing data spigot with all sorts of levers and buttons hidden just under the surface, and ripping all that out turning it in to a dumb cell phone app that you are allowed to access from your PC.
       
      Google's design team needs to work on supporting emerging apps, not redesigning the successful ones. Google's webapps such as gmail are successful almost entirely due to their existing design.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    11. Re: What the fuck. No! by houghi · · Score: 1

      I use gmx.com if you are not afraid of German, go for gmx.de. especially with the new provacy laws coming going for EUbased solution might be good.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    12. Re:What the fuck. No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google's design team needs to work on supporting emerging apps, not redesigning the successful ones.

      Yes, that's what Google needs, more chat apps.

    13. Re: What the fuck. No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Everything is way to large.
      ctrl+scrollwheel is your friend.
      I do it with 90% of the sites I use.
      Or userstyles on some elements with CSS zoom.
      I find 60-75% works best on most sites with large UIs.

    14. Re:What the fuck. No! by DaveV1.0 · · Score: 1

      I stopped using it the day I saw ads popping up on websites about something private a friend had emailed me for help with.

      --
      There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
    15. Re:What the fuck. No! by nightfire-unique · · Score: 1

      A perfect example: Google Finance.

      It was fantastic, and I usually had it open in a tab or two, 24/7. The new version is quite literally useless. It no longer serves any purpose.

      It's the first time I've migrated from anything back to something from Yahoo! Yahoo Finance is back on my screen. Never thought I'd see the day.

      --
      A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
    16. Re:What the fuck. No! by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      Displaying lots of information in a sensible way is hard work. And it's the sort of hard work that most UX designers are not equipped to handle. Just because UX design is one discipline of visual communication does not automatically lead to other disciplines like data visualization, at least not without further training.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    17. Re: What the fuck. No! by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      I don't know German but I was able to go through the site and find and compare some of the services. But when I tried to sign up for a free trial of ProMail the redirect didn't work (same goes for the FreeMail sign up). And I don't know enough German to work around it, other than maybe my browser is blocking some cookies from known ad websites.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    18. Re: What the fuck. No! by joemck · · Score: 1

      Whee, now the text is too small. The gripe is the 50px border around everything, not the font size. I understand that border is to make it easier to use on a touchscreen, but it only translates into wasting more of my screen to do less on my desktop with a keyboard and mouse.

    19. Re:What the fuck. No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed. Google Finance is a disaster whose developers quite obviously have never used their own tools on their own portfolios.

    20. Re:What the fuck. No! by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      designers HATE having more than one piece of information on the screen at a time.

      Philistine! Even one is clutter.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    21. Re:What the fuck. No! by IsoQuantic · · Score: 1

      Biggest complaint I have with Gmail is its inability to let the user change the email Subject line to something relevant to my needs. Enter eM Client http://www.emclient.com/

      Use eM Client to get Gmail, Google Calendar, Contacts and can do everything needed to be done, including dealing with mass changes to labels, starred messages, etc. Not to mention the fact that exporting all messages within eM Client into locally stored folders for backup is now easily possible.

      --
      -- I fear explanations explanatory of things explained.
    22. Re:What the fuck. No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow I seem to be in the minority that agrees with you. the screenshots give it more of an outlook feels which is basically what I want out of a web client.

  2. Nobody wanted Inbox, then? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Anyone here use Inbox?

    1. Re:Nobody wanted Inbox, then? by DarkRookie · · Score: 2

      I find that running my head into a wall is more pleasant.

      --
      The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
    2. Re:Nobody wanted Inbox, then? by rickb928 · · Score: 2

      Yes. Works well for me, and is more useful than GMail on Android.

      Web version, meh.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    3. Re: Nobody wanted Inbox, then? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use it for more than a year now. Love it - not for the design, but for the scheduling features, that let me implement a GTD scheme to my Inbox. I couple it with Boomerang and can work asynchronously, firing up mails and hiding notifications before they are really important to happen.

    4. Re:Nobody wanted Inbox, then? by MightyYar · · Score: 1

      Found out about it because of your comment. Looks like an unholy mess... I'll have to play with it.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    5. Re:Nobody wanted Inbox, then? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I really like it and use it weekly, however sometimes it's incredibly slow and simply stalls for a few seconds. Very annoying, have had this issue since it was launched.

    6. Re:Nobody wanted Inbox, then? by BobSteinVisiBone · · Score: 1

      Been using Google Inbox every day for almost 3 years. Works great. A few minor annoyances, but generally lets one forget about the tool and focus on the content.

      I was a refugee from Qualcomm Eudora, which I hated to give up, but now all my email goes through Google Inbox. It seems recently to have gotten much quicker with mail hosted on other SMTP servers.

      --
      Bob Stein, http://bobste.in
  3. Gmail worried by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That regulation will keep Google from reading everything you send and receive.

    1. Re:Gmail worried by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They made a change to this a few months ago, presumably to try to get in front of it.

      AdWords used to be very upfront about being able to target people based on the content of their messages, sent and received. The last change made it so you can only target them based on the same interest / demographic / whatever buckets as the rest of AdWords.

      You can be sure they still read and catalog all of your messages, but advertisers can't target you directly on it. They just use it behind the scenes to bucket you.

  4. Unless they are subtle changes... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't really see a difference.

  5. User control by ardmhacha · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Google is implementing smart replies for Gmail on the web, the same feature from mobile Gmail that provides suggestions to quickly reply to emails."

    I don't like that but if is easy to switch off I could live with it.

    1. Re:User control by DarkRookie · · Score: 1

      Nope. You cannot switch it off.

      --
      The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
    2. Re:User control by Dragonslicer · · Score: 2

      You can turn it off in the Android app: Settings -> [your email account] -> Smart Reply. I would be surprised if the web version is different.

    3. Re:User control by DarkRookie · · Score: 1

      OH SHIT. Thank you for that. I was looking for that options.

      --
      The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
    4. Re:User control by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      How hard would you say you were looking if you didn't look in Settings?

    5. Re:User control by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about just letting google chat work correctly, instead of having to find and paste the phone number in to send an SMS?

    6. Re:User control by DarkRookie · · Score: 1

      In all honesty, not very hard.
      I tend to only read and delete messages with the phone apps. So this was more of annoying feature than one getting in my way.
      Do the composing on the web version.

      --
      The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
    7. Re:User control by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here's your sign.

      link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBjelRDKHUk

  6. THIS SUCKS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I HATE EVERYTHING

    1. Re:THIS SUCKS by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, you'll fit right in here. You should get an account and sign in.

      Welcome.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re: THIS SUCKS by joemck · · Score: 1

      What's wrong with it? It looks like the biggest changes are little appearance things like replacing some sharp corners with smooth curves. I'm fine with this so long as they keep "compact" view and don't force super spaced out touchscreen layouts on desktop.

    3. Re: THIS SUCKS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, it's not just the UI of gmail. I just hate all things.

  7. Web apps dont work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Web apps never function properly unless I connect to the internet. How useless is that? I have to shut down my application whenever my mom needs to use the phone.
    Plus I like to use my own computer and storage instead of googles.

    1. Re:Web apps dont work by phantomfive · · Score: 0

      I understand your point, but I don't really expect email to work unless it's connected to the internet anyway.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:Web apps dont work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yes, but email only needs to connect for a few seconds.

    3. Re:Web apps dont work by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Email is perfectly fine as asynchronous if you have a good caching client.

    4. Re:Web apps dont work by Escogido · · Score: 1

      GMail Offline works just fine for me, you only need to be connected to the internet every once in a while.

      also, speaking of redesigns, I kinda prefer GMail Offline's to the online one. apparently they had to come up with a third one :)

    5. Re:Web apps dont work by alexgieg · · Score: 1

      Web apps never function properly unless I connect to the internet. How useless is that? I have to shut down my application whenever my mom needs to use the phone.

      Heh, that made me nostalgic of the 1990's. My great-aunt yelling at me to end the call as somebody might be trying to call us. Almost all my Internet-ing being by e-mail because of that. And my quick connects through the day to send and receive POP3 emails with Pegasus Mail. Good times! (Not really, but hindsight-fueled nostalgia makes them feel so.)

      --
      Conservatism: (n.) love of the existing evils. Liberalism: (n.) desire to substitute new evils for the existing ones.
  8. Knowing them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I sure can't wait for an oversized design full of useless whitespace, flat design and no affordances with 50% of the content hidden.

    1. Re:Knowing them by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Considering that Google originally became famous for having a web page that was mostly white space (and it was a good thing, too), you shouldn't be surprised.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:Knowing them by vtcodger · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You left out the use of low contrast colors including, but not limited to, light blue on a white background and the even less readable white on light blue..

      In any case, it's a moot point. Despite having DSL fast enough to support 3 TVs streaming different programming simultaneously, gmail and Google docs are so slow and clunky from my location that I long since set up IMAP and POP interfaces for my gmail.

      --
      You can't see ANYTHING from a car, You've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk...Edward Abbey
    3. Re: Knowing them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just love that light gray text i have to highlight so i can actually read it.

  9. Now with 99% more spying on you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now with 99% more spying on you

    1. Re:Now with 99% more spying on you by vtcodger · · Score: 2

      It's a deal. I don't have to hassle with running a mail server, they get to collect as much worthless information on me as they desire. If they can find a customer for the data and refrain from doing stupid (and illegal) things like harvesting and selling my credit card informaiton, more power to them.

      --
      You can't see ANYTHING from a car, You've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk...Edward Abbey
  10. Oh, no! another fresh flat look! by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Why these guys casually change the look and feel without worrying about users?

    Using wordless icons makes sense in a 5 inch mobile screen. Here I have two 24 inch full def screens, and I need to guess "will this create a new message? or this? Or will it reply all? Where is that stupid gear icon? Oh, they changed it to ham-sandwich. Now ham-sandwich is gone and we got kebab. There is a + in a circle. Or sometimes there is a pencil. "

    There is no clear demarkation of where the clickable area ends. There is no delineation of clickable areas. Who designs these swipe gestures? swipe up down left right pinch and expand roll ....

    They will not rest till we all spend all our days learning new GUI every day.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:Oh, no! another fresh flat look! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      DirecTV just did a makeover of their DVR UI. The old one was okay, it worked, and I was used to it. The new one has bugs (missed recordings, trying to record my shows on alternative channels I don't get, etc), has slower UI response times, and I have to learn it all over again. This constant relearning how to use my stuff is driving me nuts.

      How about this Google, use that considerable brainpower you claim to have with your software engineers and design your UIs to be backwards compatible with whatever underlying framework you come up with. If I want to change it to the new shiny version, I will. Instead I'll have to relearn it then teach it to my family. When's the last time I had to re-teach my mom how to use the wall oven. Never!

      We've bashed Microsoft a bunch, but they have been pretty good and maintaining backwards compatibility. Apply the same rigor to user interfaces for once, dammit.

    2. Re:Oh, no! another fresh flat look! by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

      There is a reason why the unemployment rate is hovering around historical lows.

      They're taking everyone who couldn't hold a normal job and turning them into web developers.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    3. Re:Oh, no! another fresh flat look! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      wordless icons makes sense in a 5 inch mobile screen. Here I have two 24 inch full def screens, and I need to guess

      You're not their intended audience. My guess is that their intended audience is the larger mass of users who primarily use a 5 inch mobile screen and see these types of upgrades as a form of entertainment. Small screen productivity tools is something of an oxymoron.

    4. Re:Oh, no! another fresh flat look! by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Why these guys casually change the look and feel without worrying about users?

      This is the funny one. You assume this isn't driven by the absolutely insane amount of data that Google collects on users.

      It's like the people blowing their top everytime their favourite feature in Windows disappears while at the same time complaining about telemetry. Well guess what, if only the dumb people turn on telemetry and only the dumb people use computers in a dumb way, expect your software to be dumber with the next update.

  11. Don't you ever wonder why by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 2
    nothing ever seems to change

    If it does it's for the worse, seems it's just a modern curse

    --Oingo Boingo

  12. Don't touch plain HTML client please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Dear Google,

    Please don't touch the plain HTML web client.

    It's the one part of Gmail which is fast and efficient and doesn't need Javascript.

    Thanks. (Signed, a guy who just wants to send email without having to fight a "modern" UI.)

    1. Re: Don't touch plain HTML client please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      +1

      Get off our lawns.

    2. Re:Don't touch plain HTML client please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Let's hope that redesign team doesn't even remember about basic Html version.

    3. Re: Don't touch plain HTML client please by joemck · · Score: 2

      Yes. Keep the lightweight plain HTML version! It's a godsend when I'm stuck using a slow computer or cruddy public wifi.

    4. Re:Don't touch plain HTML client please by Kaetemi · · Score: 1

      Chances are they might. Try the regular web calendar on mobile. It's still stuck in 2010.

      --
      Kaetemi
  13. Are they going to fix focus on the [Send] button? by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 2

    While composing if you press TAB then the [Send] button will get focus which is to be expected.

    Except Gmail has this annoying "feature/bug" that it does NOT colorize the [Send] button with a different background color -- except with a thin dotted rectangle that is bloody hard to see. It is too easy to then press Enter thinking you are going to indent the current line except you accidently fire off the email. Thank God for the Undo at the top.

    Since Google still doesn't understand good UI here is a console snippet that will color-code the [Send] button red when it has focus.


    for( var i = 0; i < document.styleSheets.length; i++ )
            for( var j = 0; j < document.styleSheets[i].cssRules.length; j++ )
                    if( document.styleSheets[i].cssRules[j].selectorText === ".T-I-atl:focus" )
                            document.styleSheets[i].cssRules[j].style.backgroundImage = "-webkit-linear-gradient(top,#F48,#F00)";

    WTF is Gmail being re-designed when they don't even understand _basic_ UI ?

  14. Hope it's better than Google Finance makeover! by methano · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Google just finally killed their old Finance page. The new one is a complete POS. Let's hope the guys in charge of that 'improvement" don't get anywhere near Gmail.

    1. Re:Hope it's better than Google Finance makeover! by JeremyGNJ · · Score: 1

      Yes, the old Google finance page was the best by far. Now it looks like some kid in his garage made it.

    2. Re: Hope it's better than Google Finance makeover! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am so glad to see I am not the only one bothered by this! They deleted all the functionality.

    3. Re:Hope it's better than Google Finance makeover! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The calendar too. I used to be able to add events like "meeting tomorrow at 2PM" with natural language, now I have to fill in a form.

    4. Re:Hope it's better than Google Finance makeover! by nightfire-unique · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You have to wonder if it was their intention to exit the business altogether. I can't imagine anyone finds the new Google Finance useful at all. First time I've ever migrated back to Yahoo for anything.

      --
      A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
    5. Re: Hope it's better than Google Finance makeover! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I liked all the metrics that were easily available. Is there any replacement for Google Finance that actually has the same available?

    6. Re:Hope it's better than Google Finance makeover! by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      It should have been a clear indication that if you search for finance and news on stocks that Yahoo is the first result and Google is the second and always has been. Google... the company that was slapped by the EU regulator for promoting itself, didn't promote its own finance app.

    7. Re:Hope it's better than Google Finance makeover! by sapped · · Score: 1

      This has just recently been fixed again. You can now type natural language again.

  15. Re:Are they going to fix focus on the [Send] butto by DarkRookie · · Score: 1

    To cover up the fact they haven't made a decent product in years if not decades.
    Its the same with Apple and M$ at the least. Lets shiny up are stuff without fixing it. The users won't know and we will get paid.

    --
    The millennial that doesn't like most of the stuff designed for millennials.
  16. NO. Will Anand Paka strike again ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He (Anand Paka) fucked up G News because he didn't have a clue about what the users want (No sorting by date for News WTF !!)

    I hope they won't do the same with gmail.

    1. Re:NO. Will Anand Paka strike again ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But if one could sort by date, how else could they sell relevance points to news and/or advertisement agencies?

    2. Re:NO. Will Anand Paka strike again ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They could sell display space.
      My 24" screen is nearly empty.
      Just useless images and very few texts.

  17. howabout decentralizing email again? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Howabout everyone stop using these surveillance company oriented centralized services like gmail and move back to a decentralized internet?
     

    1. Re:howabout decentralizing email again? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      That might be a good idea until you somehow manage to get on any of the spam watchdog's lists. Then try, as a "normal" server, to get off it again so your mail actually gets delivered.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  18. Looks like Hotmail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Boring.

  19. Outlook Lite by JeremyGNJ · · Score: 1

    After years of terrible UI....Google decided to change GMail interface to be laid out like Outlook has been since 1995. LOL wtf?

  20. No No No!! Do not want! by DatbeDank · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The jack offs already ruined calendar, now they're ruining Gmail?

    Change for the sake of change. I hate it! Silicon valley and it's adhd on design changes ffs. Let it go! If it ain't broke don't fix it.

    1. Re:No No No!! Do not want! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I used to be able to add events in the calendar using natural language, like "meeting tomorrow at 2" now I have to fill in a freaking form! Idiots! And this comes from a company that is presumably pushing AI...

    2. Re:No No No!! Do not want! by forkfail · · Score: 1

      They have to ruin it so we can be ready for them to "fix it" using AMP.

      Just like Classic Coke came after New Coke, but really, wasn't the same at all.

      --
      Check your premises.
    3. Re:No No No!! Do not want! by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Type it into a regular Google search instead of the new event form and it works fine.

    4. Re:No No No!! Do not want! by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Change for the sake of change.

      Nope. Change for sake of bottom line. No one spends money on changes like this if all it did was create change. The reality is that stale interfaces reflect poorly on the bottom line. Pissing a few people off in the interest of remaining "fresh" actually promotes business ... unless you're Snapchat, they fucked that up royally.

  21. Leave the themes in place by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't care what they want to do with it, so long as they either leave the themes as a feature or offer a dark background. I've had a dark theme applied to my personal account for years now and prefer it that way.

    Somehow I suspect I'm going to be forced to go with the white background though, since contemporary designer types just absolutely adore white for UI - and tend to ignore user preferences.

  22. Well, fuck. by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Anyone knows a freemail provider I could move to?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Well, fuck. by snookiex · · Score: 3, Informative

      Zoho is pretty decent, IMHO. In fact, the whole Zoho Suite is very interesting.

      --
      Open Source Network Inventory for the masses! Kuwaiba
    2. Re: Well, fuck. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would just get your own name for a domain and pay for email hosting, its cheap.

    3. Re:Well, fuck. by MagicM · · Score: 4, Funny

      If you're looking to try something different, I hear good things about GMail.

    4. Re:Well, fuck. by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      There's Hotmail and Yahoo Mail, I hear they're fairly popular!

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    5. Re:Well, fuck. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      over react much you fuckwit?

  23. Designed for 8k 9160 resolution display by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    God Damn idiots thing I'm going to buy another effen monitor? Hell I have enough trouble at 1600x900 due to my eyes (damn near blind now) so anything that needs more screen real estate (stinking sidebars) just takes from the important part.

  24. stop the ridiculousness by supernova87a · · Score: 1

    Graphic designers can fall into the trap of thinking that their work can somehow change the world through good design, so they get tempted to try to apply that to everything.... Yet not realize when it didn't work or that (amount of effort) != (amount of good).

    In this case Google's designers have gone crazy. I am absolutely incensed with them for rolling out this ridiculous tile-laden, cluttered redesign of Google Flights, for example: https://www.google.com/flights

    when the old version was clean, functional, and unconfusing: https://www.google.com/flights...
    (by the way, you can revert to the old version by clicking the "running man" in th lower left of the window).

    Graphic designers -- please moderate yourselves and realize when too far is too far!

    1. Re:stop the ridiculousness by omnichad · · Score: 1

      It's probably more generational than you realize. What is easy to parse visually is whichever is in the more familiar style. If you primarily use other apps designed in a similar way, then a redesign in that style will make whatever you're using more parse-able.

      I'm early millennial and I've never really used Google Flights. When looking at both, I think the first one is much easier to understand, even if the more advanced features aren't available until after you search. Think about the "save icon" as a very basic example. If you've never used a floppy disk, it's just a meaningless symbol that doesn't make sense unless you have some sort of historical context to tie it to.

  25. Re:Are they going to fix focus on the [Send] butto by yurikhan · · Score: 1

    Why the F is the class for the Send button named .T-I-atl, that is the question.

    I will welcome any Gmail redesign that will rename classes to readable, understandable English words accurately reflecting their functions.

  26. Ah yes, the classic "makeover." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Over they ears we have learned that software hits its functionality high point... but the company still employs people who are supposed to make it better.
    After the high point all they can do is make it worse. It is like paying cooks to make cookies and after they have the perfect dough, you tell them to keep adding ingredients. "Dog ownership is trending right now so please add stuff that is dog related to the dough.", "DIY bathroom fixes are trending right now so please add something toilet related to the dough." "My nephew is taking art classes at college and is really into driving and animals. add some roadkill related stuff to the dough", "The CEO has to have a colon exam this week, add something colon related to the dough." "... hey composting is trending right now.."
    "Man are our customers going to LOVE these cookies!"

    We call this the "Microsoft Method". Hide, remove, or break the tools. Add "pretty" and with it double the number of steps to do something. More shiny and less functionality!

    1. Re:Ah yes, the classic "makeover." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      People who use Microsoft software in a more complex ways also tend to turn off all the tracking and do not send bug reports. So Microsoft gets all the tracking from people who do simple stuff and bug reports about things from the vast majority of people who do simple stuff. I have no clue how they take this to mean making the simple stuff accessible and hiding away the more complex features and more complex things don't quite work as expected... or at all would escape them...

  27. Function following form by sjbe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Fucking "designers" are getting way too full of themselves. Look, I grant that good industrial design is a hugely useful and can add a lot of value to a product. But WAY too many products these days (software especially) have changes for the sake of changes so designers can collect a paycheck and keep busy. My smartphone has WAY too many applications with needlessly obtuse interface decision because the "designer" thought they looked cool or wanted things to be needlessly minimalistic. It's function following form when it should be the other way around.

    It seems pretty clear that usability testing is no longer a thing in software interface design. I am SO tired of incomprehensible icons, unintuitive gestures, blind navigation spaces, hidden design elements, lack of written labels, inconsistent interfaces, and needless changes to perfectly functional software. I hate web pages that put information that should fit on one screen in a huge page forcing me to scroll endlessly over needlessly large graphics that convey little information. (Apple I'm look at you here)

    1. Re:Function following form by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      This is why I've used Netscape for the last 20 years. I've grown accustomed to its face, while everyone plays *follow the leader*... over the cliff as far as I care.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  28. Blah by Presence+Eternal · · Score: 1

    I hate it when companies spin dumbing down as cleaning up.

  29. What a joke. Google controls the regulations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    You people who believe that government actually solves problems (despite 5,000 years of historical evidence to the contrary) are amazing. Google is one of the biggest companies on Earth and is vastly more powerful than any member of Congress. "Regulation" means Google will write the regulations to their benefit and to crush the competition.

    If you want to make a difference, VOTE WITH YOUR MONEY and use private technology that doesn't track you. Start by ditching Gmail for an alternative like ProtonMail or StartMail, and ditching Google search for DuckDuckGo or StartPage.

    1. Re:What a joke. Google controls the regulations by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

      Start by ditching Gmail for an alternative like ProtonMail or StartMail, and ditching Google search for DuckDuckGo or StartPage.

      DuckDuckGo will have to improve VERY significantly if it is to be reckoned with as a serious alternative to Google. I am sorry to say so, but it is the truth, as my experience moving to DuckDuckGo by default a few weeks ago unambiguously and painfully proved. With ProtonMail you are just substituting a Big Brother for another. I have no experience with StartPage and StartMail; I'll look into them.

  30. E-mail is broken by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's intrinsically insecure based on the way it was designed 30+ years ago. Securing e-mail would require a wholesale reprogramming of the entire protocol. You'd then have to find a way to roll it out to billions of people using tens of thousands of different service providers almost simultaneously. This huge, gigantic flaw in e-mail is the chief example of why federation doesn't work.

    1. Re:E-mail is broken by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's intrinsically insecure based on the way it was designed 30+ years ago. Securing e-mail would require a wholesale reprogramming of the entire protocol.

      No, and no.

      Evidence to the contrary. Good security was added to the email standard in https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4880>RFC, without "wholesale reprogramming of the entire protocol" as you put it. In point of fact I have been using this for many years and it works excellently.

      All that's necessary is for people to use it. Local clients support it. Of course surveillance company products like gmail will be reluctant but that is exactly WHY you don't want to let them control the worldwide email system.

      Stop handing over keys to kingdom and being unhappy about result.

  31. Google is becoming more self-destructive, IMO. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hope the new GMail is not worse. Google now seems poorly managed in many ways.

    1. Re: Google is becoming more self-destructive, IMO. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're more interested in purging the undesirables (James Damore, anyone?) from their little kingdom than serving the user.

  32. fresh clean look? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Fresh and Clean look == More white space, new icons with no labels, no clear clickable areas, flat blue on white color scheme you can't change.....

    I fuckin hate this new flat shit

    1. Re:fresh clean look? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't hold back; tell us how you really feel

  33. They need real work to keep from getting bored. by michalk · · Score: 1

    Sometimes I think these UI guys are sitting around like this scene from Total Recall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  34. Fuck Webmail! by macraig · · Score: 5, Interesting

    To hell with that. I use Thunderbird, and for good reason. It's one extra measure of control for me, one less for Google.

    1. Re:Fuck Webmail! by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure which bugs me more, the fact that Thunderbird, clunky as it feels, is better than Web gmail, or the fact that I expect this "upgrade" to make web gmail even worse.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
    2. Re:Fuck Webmail! by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

      Yeah my phone and PC email clients don't care what they do to the browser interface, I'll never see it.

  35. Yeah, I hope it isn't as bad as the last makeover by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But rest assured this will be even less contrast, even less user friendly... no words will be displayed in favor of icons (since modern youth use only short written word and occasional vocal grunting to communicate, right "brah?")

    I can't wait..

  36. "fresh" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't think that word means what they think it means. I took a look at the screen shots in TFA and really it looks like they just added a side bar, changed some icons and maybe switched to a different shade of white for the background...

    This all sounds like job creationism, someone is making changes just to justify their job and usually that doesn't end well, especially when the actual users are not consulted about such changes....

  37. Remember last time this happened? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google does (ironically, since these postings were extremely difficult to find for most users between 2011-14).

    If I know Google, it will definitely involve arbitrary changes with no plan to extend the most desirable UX features that currently exist.

  38. In other words.... by gerald.edward.butler · · Score: 0

    Some dipfshit "Designers" are going to fuck it up and make it horrible to look at, horrible to use, and drive me to go back to using "elm" or something like that.

  39. Need more personal data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All the better to collect your personal data.with my dear

  40. Excellent. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Gmail Android app is already unusable due to the retarded thread view that gives no information about whether or not you're looking at a draft or not, whether it has been sent or not, and what chronological order the messages are in.

    Can't wait for the web interface to look the same.

  41. What for? by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While I have no vested interest in Gmail, using it sporadically and for nothing really all that important, I resent this penchant for GUI makeovers just for the sake of it. I am already familiar with the interface; I do not have the need or desire to become familiar with a new interface, which probably will allow me to do the same things, with pretty much the same level of ease or difficulty, only in a different way. I'd rather devote my time to learning other, more interesting and personally rewarding things. I am all for change and innovation, but with a purpose other than just change and innovation.

    1. Re:What for? by aberglas · · Score: 1

      What makes you think you will be able to do the same things?

      They monitor what features most (dumb) users uses. If they don't use something, it must be clutter an goes.

      I expect them to remove Labels.

    2. Re:What for? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I resent this penchant for GUI makeovers just for the sake of it.

      As I said elsewhere, nothing is just for the sake of it. It's to prevent appearing stale which in turn affects the bottom line. You may not like it but the ultimate fact is that a redesign is required to boost up use in any platform. Piss off a few people in return for new and returning customers is just part of a product technology lifecycle.

  42. Duh by brunnegd · · Score: 1

    Same monkeys, new tree

  43. Ho-hum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gmail has had a garbage UI for years. I just forward my gmail to where I can pick it up with Thunderbird, which still has a decent UI, probably because they simply haven't changed it that much in 20 years. (When they do, it's for the worse.) Sometimes lack of resources is a good thing. (Or, you can just get your gmail with POP, until they disable that, too.)

    I avoid using mobile devices to read email, so I'm not beholden to crap-apps.

  44. Google wants more of your data! by BoRegardless · · Score: 1

    "The new Gmail We intercept even more of your personal data."

  45. Comment by WallyL · · Score: 1

    If they are going to make gmail as slow as their recently redesigned Calendar, I will be mad. I hate the slower calendar web page. It was better before. I really need to accelerate setting up my own groupware server. Any ideas for which open source projects I should try?

    1. Re:Comment by chrish · · Score: 1

      If you find decent groupware that isn't Exchange, please write up an article about it. I feel gross using AD and Exchange in a mostly-Mac shop.

      It was like that when I got here!

      --
      - chrish
  46. Bots in the firehose!! Betcha they're Russian! by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

    Malibu Stacy has a New Hat!

    How else could crap like this get voted up to the front page?! Somebody! Please! Tell me!

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  47. Bad user interface by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

    Any user interface that changes is automatically bad in my opinion. Innovation is a barrier to us mundane computer users that want to do a few basic tasks then move on with our life.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  48. Ugh by nightfire-unique · · Score: 1

    UI designers are a cancer on the industry, and the death knell for so many formerly great applications. :(

    --
    A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
  49. Google needs to clean shop by nightfire-unique · · Score: 1

    Google should take a long hard look at its employee base and try to figure out who is behind the "remove functionality and flatten interface to win over young children and the elderly" campaign. They're destroying their products one by one.

    --
    A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
  50. Fuck gui clients... by gosand · · Score: 1

    To hell with that. I use alpine and fetchmail, and for good reason. It's one extra measure of control for me. And it's just as fast as it's always been.

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

  51. Re:Are they going to fix focus on the [Send] butto by LazyBoot · · Score: 1

    I don't think you need to prefix "-webkit-" on linear gradients anymore.

  52. Facebook no, Google yes? by DogDude · · Score: 1

    You gotta be crazy to use a "free" email service for anything. Email is $2/month.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  53. No look? by StrangeBrew · · Score: 1

    Will we finally be able to do simple things like sort by sender or subject? (and no filtering by either of those two is not the same thing)

  54. Re:Are they going to fix focus on the [Send] butto by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google's scripting has been obfuscated and "compressed to optimize bandwidth usage" for over a decade.

  55. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  56. Ug- "clean" by markdavis · · Score: 1

    Every time Google "improves" one of their products with a UI, it typically ends up:

    1) Removing useful features
    2) Reducing user customization
    3) Hiding other features
    4) Replacing things with stupid icons that mean nothing
    5) Generally making things non-intuitive
    6) Includes no help or manual
    7) Adding more "social" sh** that I don't want and can't remove

    I don't know about the typical user, but don't want "clean", I want "useful", "customization", and "powerful."

    Oh, and it is not just Google, either...

  57. Well time to switch to an email client by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    although it might be wise to find a different server in the future, the email client would let me important mail I already have.

  58. Will this issue be fixed? by Albert71292 · · Score: 1

    Will the issue of getting OTHER peoples emails in my Gmail inbox be fixed? If not, I still won't take them seriously as a useful service. It's for that reason I'd never trust them with sensitive emails. No telling WHO would get my email. This NEVER happens with the other two services I use, ONLY Gmail. Their algorithm is seriously borked.

    --
    "A Bird In The Hand Will Poop On Your Wrist"-Benny Hill,1982
  59. Re:Are they going to fix focus on the [Send] butto by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    WTF is Gmail being re-designed when they don't even understand _basic_ UI ?

    Is this a trick question?

  60. New web design sucks big time! by izrada-sajta · · Score: 1

    Why changing web design when current design is absolutely fine? I don't see people around me using Gmail ever complain about the "old" interface...