Facebook Getting a Facelift

Facebook makeover leaves some devotees fuming

Dear readers, do you have a Facebook account? Did you found it difficult to use?

According to the article - Facebook makeover leaves some subscribers fuming, Facebook had launched a new-look layout in July 2008 for a better improve.

The changes make pages livelier and better organised while giving people better control over software applications they opt to install.

However, this had left many of the social networking website's 100 million users fuming as they were forced to adopt the new changes.

New layout
As suggested by Nielsen (2006), in general viewers of web content read in F-shaped pattern whereby they only read in horizontal movements across the top part of content and little bit down the page.

Besides that, Nielsen (2006) further mentions that ‘people rarely read web pages word by word; they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences.’

In this case, new Facebook layout is divided into 3 margins based on hierarchy of the importance on information:
(see - picture below)

1. Left: less important information ie: search for more
2. Center: significant information ie: main profile
3. Right: recent updates of your friends

Kress and van Leeuwen (2006, p. 205) stated that framing devices such as frame lines and white space is essential as it can simultaneously disconnect the elements of a layout from each other by not confusing readers. This is same to webpage design as online reading path is non-linear.

For the Facebook new layout, framing devices are being used in the center part to disconnect the elements for different information. This can help user to navigate the information easier. (see - picture below)

Nielsen once mentions that people will simply leave if a website is not easy to use. However, Facebook vice president of marketing Chamath Palihapitiya mention that once people become familiar with the new layout and features, they will find these changes just as useful as past improvements (News.com.au 2008).

Agreeing with this, I have found out that the new layout of Facebook is more organize as well as easier to use.

References
Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 1998. Front pages: The critical analysis of newspaper layout, Australia, pp.186-219.

News.com.au 2008, 'Facebook makeover leaves some subscribers fuming', updated 11 September 2008, viewed 5 June 2009,
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24328647-8362,00.html

Nielsen, J 2000, Chapter 3: Content Design, in Designing Web Usability, New Riders, Indianapolis, pp. 99-160.