Google App: Small Change — Big Difference
The Google app is my all-time favorite because it’s clean, fast, and has all the information I need. However, I came across this amazing article about reachability and it inspired me to find ways to improve the app’s experience.
Currently, the Google app has a search engine in the middle of the page.
Great UI, don’t you agree?
If we look at the reachability map, the position of the current search engine on the app is not at the easy-to-reach area. I tested out reachability on the iPhone x and people have a hard time reaching the search engine, especially those with small thumbs.
The simple solution?
Move the search engine down to where users can achieve reachability with the least amount of effort (the green area).
Let’s test for reachability, shall we?
As you can see, the search bar is almost 100% in the most reachable area of the screen compared to only about 45%.
Another small change that I made was moving the search icons to the home page to speed up the search process. Even better, it could be personalized based on user’s search history. As a book addict, I would want to always see a book icon on that list.
Oh, and also, have you noticed that the text color inside the search engine is a darker grey? Well, there’s a thing called accessibility which I am a big fan of.
Yes, I know there is a reachability option on the iPhones, but this small effort on Google’s side will make the lives of millions much easy. I am also aware that there are other applications that follow this method and honestly, that makes me happy. I hope that we can continue to look for inspiration and opportunities in the technologies that we use in our everyday lives and speak out to make a difference.
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