Google+封面更新的一点看法（译）

作者 +Chris Messina Post Link
在发行说明中， +Tony Stubblebine   说明了每一个新的更新。而在这里，我想我会写下一些个人笔记来捕捉我早期的设计思想，什么原因导致 #coverphoto 和一些新的个人简介的改变。虽然思维和设计在发展，并随着时间的推移和迭代在改进，我依然以为”设计的源头“是值得考虑的。

因此，退后一步，考虑较大的图片是因为，和其他社交网络类似，+Google+迎合了不同的使用人群。然而，作为一个平台，它的力量来自于一个事实，即她的用户向全世界发布信息，并且更有选择性。作为谷歌所有产品的“社会元素的核心”，它连接了用户所有的Google产品。但就像你所有的谷歌体验，个性化的定制以满足您的需求，因此每一个Google+个人资料可以进行定制，以满足其拥有者的需求和愿望 --- 从用户最公共的到用户最私密。因此，作为一个设计师，我的挑战就是权衡这两端的需求，同时为这两段中间的每一个人提供有意义的价值。

我模拟当我们在遇见一个陌生人的时候的做法：“嗨！”（封面），“介绍一下你自己。” （简介），最后“让我看看你在干什么”（信息流）。

封面变成为了从”嗨“到“你叫什么？”，“你从哪里来？”，”我们有共同认识的人吗？“的过程。信息的选择性分享，让他人一眼就能看到你分享给别人的特定信息。封面和信息流之间的标签则意味着，在进一步了解别人的时候中间的短暂停歇。（注：当然我们也在封面右下角提供了非常方便的联络工具，如果你的目的是聊天，打电话，写电子邮件或讨论聚会的场所通过那些按钮就可以实现）。

封面下面的所有内容 --- 关于，信息，图片，评论，和YouTube --- 都整合到一起 - “让我看看你在干啥？”，”你在什么地方与别人分享你的故事，那些故事的详细资料（至少你愿意透露！）。

另外的一个背景就是：Google+是一个年轻的网络，今年才将迎来她的第二个生日，但它已经有5亿以上的用户 --- 他们每个人都需要有一个独特的个人介绍。你的Google+个人资料是你所有谷歌的服务需要用到的个人介绍。我想以一种独特的，直观的方式来为普通用户或者商业品牌提供了一个广阔的画布，人们可以用这块画布充分表达自己。如果你还觉得世界上大多数人还没有公开的个人资料，那么这种设计提供了充分的空间可以用于在网上表达你自己 --- 无论你在Google+上有多少公开信息。

这些是我对于Google+封面设计的一点个人看法。我们一定会听反馈（因为我们没有确定最终的版本！）并希望继续作出周到的改进。

原文：

In the spirit of the epic release notes +Tony Stubblebine packages up with every new update to Lift, I thought I'd jot down some personal notes that capture my early design thinking that lead to the new #coverphoto and some of the profile enhancements that we launched today. Although the thinking and design evolved and was improved over time and iteration, I thought it worth considering where we started from.

So, take a step back and consider the larger picture (yep, keep going… wider — wider still!). Like similar social apps, +Google+ caters to a diverse constituency. Its strength and dexterity as a platform, however, comes from the fact that it serves publishers looking to broadcast widely — as well as those who speak to their audiences more selectively. And as Google's "social spine", it connects people across contexts through content, activities (i.e. with the launch of Sign in with Google), and profile information. But just like your Google experience is personalized to fit your needs, every Google+ profile has the ability to be customized to fit the needs and desires of its owner — from the most public to the most private of users. And so as a designer, my challenge was to negotiate the needs of both ends of this spectrum, while providing meaningful value to everyone in between.

I modeled my approach after familiar exchanges that occur upon meeting someone new: "Hi!" (the cover), "Tell me a little about yourself." (the facts), and lastly "Show me what you're in to" (the stream).

The cover is the noncommittal "Hi" from across the room — setting the mood for the next set of get-to-know-you questions: "What's your name? Where are you from? Do we know anyone in common?" This information can be selectively shared, and when volunteered, needs to easy to see at a glance. The tabs between the cover and the stream support this — forcing a quick-gasp pause on the who before diving deep into the what (n.b. we also conveniently located the contact tools in this in-between spot if your intention is to chat, call, email, or hangout rather than peruse).

Everything below the cover — About, Posts, Photos, Reviews, and YouTube — all play a part in addressing that final prompt — "Show me what you're in to" — where what you share and how you talk about it rounds out the full story and provides further details (at least as much as you're willing to divulge!).

Another piece of context: Google+ is a young network, coming up on its second birthday this year, yet it already counts more than 500M users who have upgraded to Google+ — and each of them has a profile. Your Google+ profile is the one profile that you have across all of Google's services. I wanted to provide a unique, visual way to represent people and brands —  offering an expansive canvas for personal expression. If you consider that most people in the world still don't have a public profile, this design provides scaffolding for representing oneself online, and provides a means to express what you're about — regardless of how publicly you share on Google+.

So, that's a little personal perspective on the origins of this design. We're definitely listening to feedback (as we did in getting to this release!) and hope to continue to make thoughtful improvements.