Now you see it, now you don't (Google rolls out fade-in homepage)

Hah! A couple of weeks back I was working (face-time) with a client, trying to figure out some bizarre website behaviors on a project.<p>Every time we loaded the Google home page, it did the fade in thing, and I couldn't replicate it on any of my systems, even though the client was hooked into my local network at the time.<p>It drove me <i>nuts</i>, doubly so since I couldn't find any evidence of it happening to anyone else. I finally concluded that either Google had done something funky with their page code, or something was hosed up in a bizarre way in her copy of IE 8.<p>Thanks, Google.

I loved the screenshot of the ultra minimalistic barcode logo and fade combination:<p><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/Sxb_MsMIxyI/AAAAAAAAFC0/IqU_3tGQCUU/s1600-h/barcode_mockup_fade.gif" rel="nofollow">http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7ZYqYi4xigk/Sxb_MsMIxyI/AAAAAAAAFC...</a>

I'm not sure I really see the point of this. I mean the fade lasts for approx. 3 seconds, by which time I have hardly got my cursor to the search box let alone started typing. I agree they could reduce some of the other visual noise on the page but this seems... unnecessary.<p>[edit] I also use the top left controls an awful lot to access gmail etc. since I have google set as my homepage. Now I have to wait before I can access these? Poor usability. [/edit]

I hate this passionately. Google is my home page, and now every time I open a new browser window, I see a distracting animation.

Mmm... maybe I'm just feeling flibbly today but I'm not a big fan of this. It makes me feel seasick for some reason.

I think it serves some purpose. Google's homepage is so plain you could almost mistake it for being antiquated and neglected. This little fade effect is a subtle reminder that it's simplistic by design.

Isn't it poor user interface design to <i>hide</i> controls?

What is more interesting to notice is the aggressive use of Javascript on Google's homepage as for long Google has tried to keep the old browsers without JS support in mind. This indicates that the web is rapidly moving towards more advanced browsers.

One nice benefit of the change is that the home page now looks much nicer in a "top sites" or "speed dial" or whatever you want to call it mode. It stands out.<p>I like it.

This is a really interesting user experience shift, given the minimalist nature of chrome.<p>It's almost like a little HAL box.

I like it, but it's mostly an aesthetic response. Maybe it's not a big improvement in usability, but it certainly is visually.

Is this supposed to be what everyone sees? I don't see any fade-in effects on their home page. (Mac OS X 10.4 and Safari 4).

In general, the home page of an organization tells you everything you need to know about its internal structure. Companies that don't know what they're doing have confusing home pages. A focused company has a very clean home page. This is one step beyond even that.<p>Say what you will about Google, but name any other big web property that innovates on core services like this. Facebook maybe. Who else?