5 ms·

I'm not sure I really see the point of this. I mean the fade lasts for approx. 3 seconds, by which time I have hardly got my cursor to the search box let alone

I'm not sure I really see the point of this. I mean the fade lasts for approx. 3 seconds, by which time I have hardly got my cursor to the search box let alone started typing. I agree they could reduce some of the other visual noise on the page but this seems... unnecessary. [edit] I also use the top left controls an awful lot to access gmail etc. since I have google set as my homepage. Now I have to wait before I can access these? Poor usability. [/edit]

liuliu 17y ago
It seems like if you move your mouse, the homepage will show everything. The idea seems to be just go to google.com, and type what you want to search without moving your mouse.
- hellotoby 17y ago
  Ah, well spotted. I didn't notice that. I stand by my original point though, why should I have to wait?
  - DougBTX 17y ago
    They are making you wait so that users on their happy path have less distractions. Worth noting that the animation lasts about half a second, not three. And that people on the happy path will not need to wait. And that the main problem isn't the wait, but that if you want Mail or News you have to move the mouse before you know where to click, so the initial movement will be in the wrong direction.
    - nooneelse 17y ago
      If the fade in elements stay in the same places, then won't low-level/muscle memory take care of the initial movement being usually in the right direction?
      - DougBTX 17y ago
        I'd entertain the possibility, but I'm not sure. I hardly ever access google.com directly. I mostly use Chrome, where I search from the address bar directly, and in Safari and Firefox I search using the "g %s" bookmark from the address bar. I have gmail as a thumbnail in the Chrome new tab start page, and in other browsers I type it in directly. So, no anecdotes from me. Hopefully the Google guys have tested this themselves, and perhaps it does happen.
Tuna-Fish 17y ago
When the page loads, focus starts on the search box. You do not need to click it to begin typing.

liuliu 17y ago

It seems like if you move your mouse, the homepage will show everything. The idea seems to be just go to google.com, and type what you want to search without moving your mouse.

hellotoby 17y ago
Ah, well spotted. I didn't notice that. I stand by my original point though, why should I have to wait?
- DougBTX 17y ago
  They are making you wait so that users on their happy path have less distractions. Worth noting that the animation lasts about half a second, not three. And that people on the happy path will not need to wait. And that the main problem isn't the wait, but that if you want Mail or News you have to move the mouse before you know where to click, so the initial movement will be in the wrong direction.
  - nooneelse 17y ago
    If the fade in elements stay in the same places, then won't low-level/muscle memory take care of the initial movement being usually in the right direction?
    - DougBTX 17y ago
      I'd entertain the possibility, but I'm not sure. I hardly ever access google.com directly. I mostly use Chrome, where I search from the address bar directly, and in Safari and Firefox I search using the "g %s" bookmark from the address bar. I have gmail as a thumbnail in the Chrome new tab start page, and in other browsers I type it in directly. So, no anecdotes from me. Hopefully the Google guys have tested this themselves, and perhaps it does happen.

Tuna-Fish 17y ago

When the page loads, focus starts on the search box. You do not need to click it to begin typing.