Valleywag
The Washington Post apparently discovered the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button this week, because it's written an ode to that and Google's "famously spartan home page." How, the Post marvels, does Google keep the site so clean and still give access to all its new products?
At a recent party at Yahoo, a friend from the company told me that he'd recently visited Google.com. He wanted to use one of Google's less popular products, so he clicked "more," a link that used to lead to Google's product list. Instead, he got the little menu above, offering just three more options along with an "even more" link.
My friend, who's seen the operation behind Yahoo's complex home page, wasn't surprised. His response: "Now they know."
Ever so humble [Washington Post]
Comments
Uh, yeah, now they know how to offer access to all their services without vomiting links all over their front page.
Seriously, I'm not a Google fanboy, but this is a perfect example of the differences between the two UI philosophies. Google takes the approach that the vast majority of their users want only a few things, that a small group want a few more, and the rest will be willing to click through to a different screen. Yahoo wants you to know about EVERYTHING THEY'RE DOING and thus makes their front page a cluttered mess.
It's another instance of Pareto's rule.. Governs everything Google does, from the interview process to their design philosophy.
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