Earlier today I had the unique opportunity to sit down with Loic and preview Seesmic's brand spanking new Look.
There's something funny about most of the Twitter clients. They looks remarkably similar. They have remarkably similar functionality. They even have similar sized windows.
Look simply looks and feels different. It's refreshing. Not sure that I will use it everyday, but it just refreshing the first time you use it. I recommend giving it a spin.
5 ways that Look is different
- It's feels bigger and less cluttered, which makes the experience feel lighter and more leisurely. This design decision will also make touch interactivity far easier.
- It comes with an uber list of suggested users by category, and prominently features trends. These are great features for newbies looking for conversationalists and topics, as well as anyone looking for fresh voices (or just bored with those they follow).
- It puts the social functionality on the side of the page rather than on top of each tweet. I particularly enjoyed this design decision, as most of twitter interactivity is reading instead of writing. Not yet sure that I'll be as likely to engage in @replys, but we'll see.
- It recognizes that photo and video sharing are emerging as a major twitter usage by auto-previewing all media in an integrated window. I'd like to see the same auto-preview with all links.
- It gives brands an area to show their stuff. This is a big deal, as Seesmic is the first client (to my knowledge) to create a brand/advertiser offering. I'm not quite sure what the big win for the brands will be here (other than buzz or a platform for publishers), but kudos to Seesmic and the brands engaged for trying something new.
