Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Wikipedia moved my food dish (slightly)

Wikipedia has recently undergone a facelift. Just as a casual user I've noticed approximately two things:
  • The buttons and stuff are shinier.
  • The search field is now up top instead of over to the side.
I was somewhat annoyed by that second item for a bit, but I'm already used to it now, and I can see the UX value in putting such a vital, high-volume element in a more prominent place.

What else did they do? The new features link mentions a couple of new editing widgets, which I may explore next time I edit a page, a new version of the logo (part of the general new shininess) and, "improved search suggestions". They've also made it clearer whether you're reading or editing a page, but I've never had a lot of trouble with that distinction.

Of these, the improved search suggestions are the real winner. Search suggestions rock, and I'd say that even if I didn't work for Google.

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