Interface Feature research - Google

Google Drive has a thumbnail option of viewing the content the users saves on to it, with a small thumbnail image and the name of the file beneath with a small icon to show what sort of file it is for example Google use a small mountain symbol on a red background to represent images. Also when hovering the cursor over a file, a small drop down box will tell you what folder or project the image is from, for example above the image reveals it is part of the folder titled 'Advertising Brief', these simple features improve the users experience by making the content easily identified and clear.

Google Drives left side bar is where different categories of files are shown, when changing from one to another the colours go from dark grey to blue to show which option the user is on. This effect is simple but effective to give a clearer user experience. The icons are not overly necessary but add a clear touch so the user can familiarise to the simple small icon rather than to read text.

Google applications set out the data saved on them by having the most recent content at the top of the page (i.e. Gmail, Google Drive, etc) this is through keeping a log of the date and time the content is put onto the app, the date or time is normally clear on the page, especially when the content is listed.

Google uses a lot of drop down menus on words and icons, for example the image above is from Gmail where there is an option to view three different things, this saves listing these other options on the same page, it leaves the page looking clearer and less jumbled. 

Google drive offers two views of the main page one which lists saved content and the other shows thumbnails of the saved content, the main one when Google Drive is opened is the thumbnail style, it shows the content more clearly by using images of the file as well as giving the type of folder it is through a small icon and the title of the file, each file has a tile on the page, this is clear and effective. Though the two views are effective, another view which focuses directly on the images would work well with being able to see the image at a larger style with the information small beneath it, like the cover flow style on Finder. It would be effective to explore the different styles of showing information and content on a web page.