Yesterday, Gmail, which has over 260 million people using the free email service worldwide, accidentally released a video that details upcoming product changes. Although the original YouTube video is no longer viewable, a copy of the video has been uploaded. Jason Cornwell, a user experience designer for Google, says the following in the video:
“We’ve been hard at work to update Gmail with a new look. We’ve completely redesigned the look and feel of Gmail to make it as clean, simple and intuitive as possible.”
The video revealed that the new features include: high definition themes, automatic resizing based on browser size, revamped email thread display, redesigned conversations, and advanced search features.
The video showed a selection of “high-definition themes,” which will allow users to customize the appearance of Gmail using high definition imagery. In addition to choosing one of the default themes, several experts are speculating that users will be able to upload their own photos to further customize the Gmail experience.
In addition to the new themes, Gmail will automatically adjust its size to fit within a browser window and has four display densities that users can choose from.
The new version of the conversation view, which looks quite similar to Facebook Messages, displays profile photos of each person in the conversation and will be easier to read.
Currently, users have to manually type out advanced search operators or click the “show search options” link to use the advanced search feature. After the update, a user will automatically see the targeted search features every time they click “search”; in addition, users can also easily create new search filters.
When Mashable contacted Google regarding the leaked video, Andrea Freund, a Gmail representative told them:
“Oops, you weren’t supposed to see that. Stay tuned, we’ll be sharing more info on Gmail’s new look soon.”
In addition to revamping Gmail, Google is also rolling out new user interfaces for Google Calendar and Google Docs that focuses on usability and removing clutter. The Gmail product update is expected to be rolled out in the next several weeks.
