Google reader redesign critique brian shih – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
Skip to main content

Google Reader redesign gets critiqued by former Reader Product Manager

Google appears to have just smashed the Gmail and Docs visual aesthetic together with the recent Google Reader redesign, so it’s no surprise that it hasn’t gotten the most welcome response.

Google appears to have just smashed the Gmail and Docs visual aesthetic together with the recent Google Reader redesign, so it’s no surprise that it hasn’t gotten the most welcome response.

google reader
google reader
google reader

On first glance — and maybe second and third — Google appears to have just smashed the Gmail and Docs visual aesthetic together with the recent Google Reader redesign, so it’s no surprise that it hasn’t gotten the most welcome response. Ex-Reader Product Manager Brian Shih dives into the flawed visual and functional redesign decisions on his personal blog, noting Reader was built to shine at just one thing: consuming information, quickly. Google+, on the other hand, is built around social, and the resulting mix shows little regard for the underlying services. Plus, there’s the “whole giant header bar with no real estate saved for actual reading.”

Thanks, DanTheScienceMan

Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.