Not long after launching a new, more “Google+-ish” look for all their products, Google has announced a complete redesign of its social network, which brings changes to almost every aspect of Google+. The idea behind the redesign is to make the Google+ interface more flexible, so as to allow additions of new features in the future, and also “to create a simpler, more beautiful Google”.

The first change you’ll notice is to the navigation bar; gone are the top static navigation buttons, and in their stead you will find a flexible sidebar, which you can customize by dragging items around and by choosing which ones will appear and which ones will be hidden.

You’ll also notice the significant change in appearance, especially to image and video posts which are now bigger and better looking. Content sharing also includes conversation “cards” and activity drawers, as Google refers to them, which make it easier to engage in conversation and see who else is sharing this content.

Moving on to profile pages, Google seem to have taken a note from Facebook – the new profile pages now feature a big, wide image on top, not unsimilar to Facebook Timeline profiles. The chat has also been updates, and a new Explore page has been added, which shows hot trends from across the network.

Another part of Google+ which has received a major overhaul is Hangouts, which now have their very own dedicated page. In this page you’ll find an always-updated list of your invitations, and will be able to find access any public Hangout easily. You can now also access Hangouts directly from the stream.

All in all, this is a huge change, which will no doubt get a reaction from users. The change is rolling out over the next few days, so if you still can’t see it, all you can do is wait. In the meantime, you can watch this video to get an overview of all the changes.

What do you think of the new design?

Source: Official Google Blog