Google announced that it will be sporting a new look beginning this Spring. In their official announcement, Google stated they are rolling out a new look for their search page that now showcases additional tools and resources on the left-side navigation.
Having observed and worked with Google now for at least a decade, this is a big deal. Not so much because Google has been reticent in making changes to their search page, but because it highlights a small victory for left-side navigation.
In the area of website design, we encounter lots of opinions and preferences for different layouts and site navigation styles. We try to develop what is best for users working off of some core principles for website design like Eyetrack studies and other research.
Alternative navigation strategies abound on the Internet. You have different varieties of top nav, right-side nav, and embedded navigation styles to go along with left-side navigation.
The fact that Google has elected to go with a left-side navigation format on their new search page is a profound development. The main reason being that Google doesn’t make a major move like this without extensive testing and research. If tried and true Google, who has managed to dominate the search landscape with one of the most simple search page designs in history, made the judgment call to go with left-side navigation, then I am willing to accept that all of the prior testing and research they did points to this being the best option.
