A look at Google Drive’s new UI design

The new design looks great, or is it really?

I was looking for a slide deck in my Google Drive a week ago when I noticed something looks different…I did a quick search (on Google) and discovered that Google had rolled out new UI interfaces that is likely to align with their latest Material 3.

In this article, I am giving my two cents on these changes and how in my opinion, did as well as did not enhance the overall user experience of using Google Drive.

Rounded buttons and darker hues

The first noticeable change when I accessed my Google Drive was the contrasting hues and rounded buttons and icons. Several psychological studies have shown that rounded features gives a softer and milder impression, putting users at ease when viewing such features on a screen. The darker hues and contrast of the taskbars and call-to-action buttons help to separate these from the rest of the page, making it easier for users to visually spot what they need.

Especially if you have to work on Google docs for hours at end, these new features should be good news for the eyes!

Rounded buttons and taskbar with darker hues allowing key features/elements to be visually more obvious

It is now visually more obvious (darker blue and contrast) when an item/feature is selected

Now on to the features that I felt did not enhance the user experience of the new Google Drive interface.

Took several tries to figure out how to get the path links

When I first used the new Google Drive interface, I was struggling to understand the sequence of having to select/deselect the file to obtain the path links. When multiple files were selected, users would need to unselect the files then they would be able to see the path links. Multiple clicks are required for this specific action, which does not seem necessary. My only guess for such a design is that it is to ensure consistency across all the other Google products.

When a file is selected, the path link would not be shown.

To obtain the path link (My Drive > Holiday Plans), users would need to first unselect a file.

Duplication of functions

I also noticed a duplication of the functions when users right-click on a selected file. Intuitively I would right-click on the files when I require more functions such as downloading or deleting the file.

Repeat of functions

These are small but significant changes to the overall design of Google Drive and I subtly found myself trying to adapt to these new features over the last few days.

What do you think of the new Google Drive design? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!