On October 28th, Google launched the new version of Orkut. Created with Google Web Toolkit, the new version is faster, richer and a better experience than what we have been used to. News about the redesign process first broke when the homepage for Google Chrome Brazil showed a teaser of the new Orkut. In this post we look at how useful this redesign is, though we undoubtedly agree that it was much needed.
Orkut is to social networking what Mario is to videogames. Everyone has used Orkut at some point of time, especially in countries like India and Brazil, which form the main user-base of Orkut. The redesign, thus, has to facilitate such user-bases. Does it? Lets look.
The new design is still invite based, so you will be needed to be invited to the new design. Read How to Get New Orkut Invite for more details. After recieving the invite, If you don’t see the new interface when you log in to your Orkut account? Click on the “try new Orkut” link.
The first thing you will notice in the new interface is the new ‘What Are You Upto’ Block. Something that immediately reminds you of Twitter and Facebook. The biggest change in Orkut is the introduction of this Facebook Wall like feature. You can make your updates here and it will be listed below and your friends and other orkut users can leave their comments on your activity, just like Facebook.
Next you will notice the tabs just below the updates block and the absence of the traditional profile. Yup, the profile system has been changed. And you will also need to fill in your profile again. The tabs help in achieving the biggest boost for the new design – the count of pages has been decreased and browsing through has become much faster than before. However, the similarity between Orkut’s Tabbed interface and Facebook are again very striking.
The only area where the new interface really shines (and performs better than the Facebook interface) is its minimalist design and intrusion-free user experiecnce. Leave it to Google: when it comes to designing rich interfaces that do not intrude into your experience they really excel. Content is highlighted here while the interface objects are their to facilitate your interactions
More details on the new design features are included in the Google Helpdesk for Orkut.
All in all, the new Orkut design is a poor imitation of Facebook’s interface which we do not find in taste of what Orkut was for us. Even then the interface is a step forward towards a more social Orkut. We hope Google knows what they are doing.
What do you think about the new Orkut design? Leave a comment below.
Author: Kinshuk Sunil (72 Articles)
Kinshuk Sunil is the founder of the WiSy Blog. An active evangelist for Open Source and a enthusiast Game Designer, Kinshuk focuses on reviewing Softwares, Services and Games here. However, a jack of all trades, Kinshuk can be found talking about almost everything. Catch up with him on twitter @kinshuksunil.
