Google unveils new homepage: did you even notice?
December 4th, 2009 | 
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Google has finally launched a new version of its homepage after extensive testing, so you can look forward to the following exciting new features: the text on the page fades in when you first move your mouse. And … that’s all. I guess Google didn’t want to mess with a good thing, and the site does look a lot cleaner on first load, with just the logo and the search field, but I’m sure a lot of users won’t notice the change.
You can sleep well at night knowing it’s a perfect fade-in, though. Google tested 10 different versions of the fancy new transition, and ultimately chose one that was “positive or neutral on all key metrics.” According to Google, the new fade-in does slow users down, but it also improves their efficiency at using the homepage over time. Apparently a few extra-milliseconds to stop and smell the features actually makes a difference.
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