Google+ redesign focuses on Collections and Communities

Google consists of at least one, maybe two, trillion departments, and they each adopt new visual styles at their own pace.

Just when you thought you had heard the last of Google’s fledgling social networking platform, Google+, the company goes and completely overhauls its design. Now this particular Google department is pushing out a more unified look across devices, starting with the web.

If you want to try the new Google Plus, you’ll need to opt in to the redesign.

Next up, Google is front-loading a few of its most popular features, Communities, and Collections, to greet you when you log onto the social networking site. To do so, all you’d have to do is sign into your Google+ account and click “Let’s go” at the prompt and you’re good to go.

Google+ was previously focused on allowing users to divide their contacts into “circles” that never had to interact with each other. You’ll still be able to switch back to the old design, though it’s not clear if that will eventually change. Updates to the Android and iOS apps for Google+ will roll out in the coming days.

In a post on the official Google Blog, Eddie Kessler, Google’s “director of streams”, said that after listening to feedback, the company reworked Plus around a mobile-first experience focused on Communities, where people can connect around shared interests, and Collections, where people can create virtual scrapbooks of information and media. These tweaks and a fresh coat of paint may not make Google+ the dominant social network – which I’m not sure Google is trying to do anymore, anyway – but they’re sure to please existing users.