The mobile search experience of Google is getting a welcome redesign with the new changes aimed at simplifying the user experience.
The new design, which will be rolled out in the coming days, aims to provide easier to read search results and a more modern look with a simpler, edge-to-edge design.
Google designer Aileen Cheng who’s behind the redesign said that the new changes help keep the focus on the Search results and not the design elements around it. It’s also aimed at “getting people to the information they’re looking for as clearly and quickly as possible.”
Google does this by using larger and bolder text so people can easily scan and understand Search results faster. Section titles are getting bigger in the new Search experience. Google is also adding its own font that’s used in Android and Gmail, to Search on mobile.
Further, Google has minimized the use of shadows for more “visual space and breathing room for Search results.” Google tried playing with bold colors and muted tones but ultimately decided on a clean background for images, Ms. Aileen said. The team is “using color more intentionally to guide the eye to important information without being overwhelming or distracting.”
The new update will feature more rounded designs in different elements of Search. “If you look at the Google logo, you’ll notice there’s a lot of roundness to it, so we’re borrowing from that and bringing it to other places as well,” said Ms. Aileen. This change will be most reflective in rounded icons and imagery.
In many ways, the latest refresh is a continuation of the work Google did with its mobile search refresh in 2019. At that time, the emphasis, too, was on making it easier for users to scan down the page by adding site icons and other new visual elements to the page.
