Taking a Closer Look at Facebook's New Design

Any Facebook user can tell you that within the past year the social networking site has become extremely cluttered. From ads to icons to applications, users' profile pages have become confusing eyesores for both the owner and visitors.

In an effort to clean up the site, Facebook has reorganized and altered the design of the sites main pages. The new changes do offer some clear advantages, including offering personal information on a separate tab than the wall application, which lets friends post comments or notes on a user's profile. The clear advantage is a more attractive layout, and less information assaulting the eye at first glance.

As blogger Sarah Perez notes, the redesign also indicates that the first generation of Facebook users is looking to have the site meet their changing needs: "As the college kids move into the real world, the social network needs to reflect their changing needs in order to stay relevant while still appealing to the next generation of users...[i]t helps when profiles aren't filled with pointless, time-wasting apps that don't just fill your screen but also spam you and your friends with their notifications." (Source: sky.com)

Although many users find applications fun, the old Facebook didn't allow profile owners to choose where they appeared on their profile -- hence, lots of clutter. Under the new format, users have the power to choose where on their profile the application appears. If they don't want it visible, it can be stored away in the "Boxes" link. (Source: arstechnica.com)

Overall, the response to the appearance and execution of Facebook's facelift appears positive. The site's designers were sensitive to those flaws that bothered users and have attempted to fix them. Although reports have suggested some minor HTML flaws, those should be fixed by the time the new format is applied to all 80 million users in the coming weeks.

Note: Fellow Infopackets contributor John Lister recently examined some of the problems associated with Facebook's new design.  You can check out that article here.