Small Tweaks make all the difference

It’s funny how sometimes a simple design change can make a world of difference. One of my friends just purchased a PS3. We were noting how it’s neat that the album art appears next to your music, while selecting music from your computer. Another friend commented that that is not really necessary. It’s true- not necessary… but we got into a discussion about the little designs that may not be necessary, but seem to hook us in. The “cool” factor.Anyway, I was reading through Brian Oberkirch’s blog posts at http://www.brianoberkirch.com/ today. One of his posts was just a small blurb about the redesign of twitter, just a small tweak that made a world of difference for him. Instead of showing the newly added friends, it shows who is following you in terms of the most recent followers. For him, this made the experience more enjoyable and less of a background tool.It’s interesting to see how these small chances on an interface can completely change how someone perceives it or interacts with it. Take the new layout of facebook as yet another example of this.