I finally got access to the new LinkedIn user interface yesterday, so I thought I would write up a quick comparison to the old user interface and conclude with my thoughts on whether or not this is a step forward for the LinkedIn user.  I already mentioned in a previous post that the new LinkedIn user interface brings with it no new functionality per se.  But from a usability perspective, the change is dramatic and warrants a unique post in helping you adjust to the new way of navigating LinkedIn.

If you already purchased my LinkedIn book, you can turn to the diagram on Page 54 to get a better idea of what the old LinkedIn user interface used to be composed of.  Simply put, the left-hand navigation bar has been removed and its functionality has been completely added in to the top section of the user interface.  The main body and associated right-hand section of it have not changed at all.  The bottom section still exists but is now more compact than it used to be.

The biggest change is that previous navigating on the menus that appeared in the left-hand navigation bar have now completely been replaced with what I will now call the “top navigation bar”.  Where some options used to appear when expanding menus in the old left-hand navigation bar, these options now only appear when you put your cursor over one of the options in the top navigation bar.  If you know where you are going there is no inconvenience here.  Otherwise, at first at least, it may take you a little longer to navigate to where you might want to navigate to.  You should get used to the scheme pretty quickly.

The interesting thing about the new LinkedIn user interface is how things have been re-ordered based on how we use LinkedIn.  For instance, the previous ordering of items on the left-hand navigation bar was: Home, Groups, Profile, Contacts, Inbox, and Applications.  The new top navigation bar ordering is: Home, Profile, Contacts, Groups, Jobs, Inbox, and “More”, which contains Companies, Answers, Learning Center (which was previously accessible only through the bottom navigation bar), and then Applications.  It makes sense to place Groups after Profile and Contacts, but why place Jobs in the main menu before Inbox instead of in the “More” menu?  It only leads to LinkedIn being seen more as a job-seeking site than a professional networking site.  Maybe LinkedIn did this as part of their attempts to further monetize their site by kowtowing to the HR Executives and Recruiters out there?  IMHO, as a professional networking site, Inbox should have come before Jobs, and Jobs itself should be replaced with “Companies”.  I’ll let you be the judge as to what LinkedIn’s intentions were here…

Another interesting thing is the “Add Connections” bar.  If you remember, this used to be a green bar that prominently appeared near the bottom of the left-hand navigation bar.  Now it appears prominently in the top right-hand corner of the top navigation bar, right next to Settings (used to be called “Account & Settings”).  On every page you navigate to, LinkedIn is reminding you to Add Connections, and the font type is bold.  Interesting.  I am always amused that LinkedIn, who place so many restrictions on connections, is now reminding us on every page to add connections.  Hopefully this is a hint that maybe, just maybe, some of those same restrictions will disappear as mysteriously as they appeared…

One other thing to note is that LinkedIn Events finally has a place in the Applications directory.  If you remember my April Fool’s Day post on What are LinkedIn Applications?, I wrote about how Events wasn’t even considered an Application on the LinkedIn platform because it didn’t appear in the Applications directory.  That has finally been fixed.  Thank you LinkedIn!

So what is missing in the new LinkedIn user interface?  Nothing.  Just as the functionality has not changed, everything that was in the old LinkedIn user interface can be found here.

But wait, come to think of it, there is one thing that disappeared in the new LinkedIn user interface.  There used to be what I called a “Profile Summary” box in the bottom of the left-hand navigation bar.  This used to show your photo, your most recent status update (combined with a text box to enter a new one), and your current number of connections.  This has disappeared completely, and is probably a sign that fewer people are updating their LinkedIn status directly from LinkedIn and more are using either Twitter or tools like Ping.fm or HootSuite to serve this purpose.  If you want to update your status from within LinkedIn, you can now only do this from the Home page.

To be honest with you, so far I am enjoying the new user interface for one primary reason: it seems faster.  It wouldn’t surprise me that by simplifying the user interface and associated code, LinkedIn was able to optimize performance.

Furthermore, LinkedIn uses more “negative” or white space in the new user interface.  This is very Web 2.0-ish in design and seems easier on the eye when navigating the site.

These two reasons alone makes the new LinkedIn user interface an improvement for all of us.

I am assuming by now that you are also using the new interface.  Were you able to find any missing features?  Do you agree that the performance is faster?  Easier on the eyes?

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