Case Study #1: Google

Land on the home page and you have only one option: search (simple and, therefore, highly usable). That’s why Google is our very first case study. This austere offering is the opportunity for a simple site deconstruction using style objects or style “Cases.”

• 1. IdentityTypically the company logo is the primary, or only, unit within the Identity Case, as we see here. Sometimes you will see a tagline and/or a photo. Google has such name recognition, though, those additional units are extraneous. Even the Supra-Elements (i.e., the page title and browser title) simply offer “Google”.
• Web design notes: a few people might consider drop shadows on logos somewhat of a relic nowadays, leftover from an earlier era. Not that drop shadows aren’t still used in many thoughtful ways, but it really doesn’t lend any mystique to the logo. Might we see a new rendering of it one day soon? Who cares as long as we find what we’re looking for. Right?
• 2. ImpactWhat does this page want the visitor to do? Search! The Units within, a textbox and two buttons “Google Search” and “I’m Feeling Lucky,” are all you’ll ever need to get by on this site. Simple.
• The only question here: doesn’t the “I’m Feeling Lucky” text for the right button seem a bit esoteric? I’ve rarely used it and I wonder what is the ratio of users to the “Google Search” button. Once you’ve used it, you get it. But it requires an extra step for the user to understand its purpose.
• 3. NavigationThese Navigation Cases are two dissimilar units separated not only by space, but objective. The left is a filter for finding more specific Google-hosted content; the right for personalized Google pages. A fine use of navigation: grouping links by their use case.
• 4. SearchSearch isn’t a standalone Unit, because the Impact of the page is centered on a search action.
• 5. FeatureThe Feature Case in Google’s example is, again, about as simple as it can get. It is company-centered, more so than user-centered, as the linked pages are geared toward Google’s commerce. Though there are certainly users who desire access to the pages, this case isn’t necessarily helpful to the critical component of the page, the Impact Case.
• The only item of note is the “About Google” link. “About” links are generally of a Courtesy or Supplemental nature. In this instance its placed with the Feature Units. If you visit the landing page for that link, its clear why its place there: it’s quite a promotional page for Google.
• 6. SupplementalThe three links to the right of the search box are there for a singular purpose: to enhance the search process. A Supplemental Case is normally used to either supplement the Impact Case or a component of the user experience of the site. For instance, a “News and Events” Supplemental Case doesn’t always help along the Impact Case of a page, but it’s a nudge to the user that the site’s owners are thinking of them and what they might want to see that’s new or interesting.
• Web design notes: Google uses the default blue link color consistently throughout its site. It tends to change a bit in the deeper search pages, but, due to the simplicity of the home page, it’s not necessary to use much styling on disparate links. Their division by purpose and space is enough to distinguish them. The same goes with the Supplemental Case: though the font’s a bit smaller, they merely need to have proximity to the search box for the user to understand their purpose.
• 7. SponsorThere is no Sponsor Case on this page.
• 8. AdminThere are two Admin Cases here, both very typical. The top right one offers user login and settings. The bottom: ©2007 Google. Nothing unusual. In fact, most usual.
• Web design notes: The smaller, lighter colored font gives it understated emphasis.

I chose to analyze the Google Web site because of its simplistic design, as well as its very recognizable interface. Although this isn’t the best execution of the Style Cases because of the lack of content, they can be easily inferred from the page.

I’d offer only a couple of suggestions in style changes:

The “About Us” link could perhaps be in a discrete Courtesy Case, but that’s fairly minor. The “I’m Feeling Lucky” button text is hazy in meaning (and, therefore, in purpose?) Otherwise, this Web page is a solid example of how to infer Style Elements effectively.

And don’t worry, we’re going to have plenty of examples where a Web page doesn’t align with the Style Elements, and we’ll decide if that is good or bad. All of these case studies will be to prove or disprove that every Web site is the same and that we all use these Elements, understood or not.

4 Comments

Comments RSS | TrackBack Identifier URI

Leave a comment

Name (required)

Mail (hidden) (required)

Website