3 reasons why I dig the new Flickr

I scrolled to the bottom of my Flickr page on my new big monitor, and saw a link.

Psssst! Want a sneak peak at your new homepage?

Um, of course I do.

And this screen came up. It a midi-tastic version of Girl from Ipanema and rained down little Flickr logos with a little message about the redesign. And then the screen went blank. Clearly, Flickr’s designers were taking a cue from the NES games of the 90s. This is how all redesigns should be unveiled.

Here’s why I dig it:

1. What a pleasant reveal. From the kitschy music, to the messages, to the screen going blank for a while before the new page came up, everything was on point for the Flickr brand. And…
2. They didn’t change too much. Facebook’s change was BIG, and sudden. I do like the new Facebook, but they changed a lot of things on a bunch of people, most of whom aren’t that web-savvy.
3. The changes are smart and probably metrics-driven. The fonts for the key nav elements are bigger, which is easier for most people to use. There’s a subtle link to my stats, which I hardly ever look at. A nice discovery awaits. And more pictures from my contacts, along with placing the important stuff on the left bar. But the whole thing doesn’t look a whole heck of a lot different. Just better and easier. Which leads me to believe that more than a little UX thought went into it.

May I offer another post?

• January 29, 2010 — Age of Slang, Idea and Design (3)
• December 9, 2008 — The Interwebs Presentation (15)
• November 30, 2008 — The Creative Bible (0)