Google: Question 3-User experience

User experience

What do you think about Google during your experience using their services?

Have you switched from hotmail to gmail, or, from IE to Chrome, or to other Google’s applications?
Talk about your experience.

Hi,

In my opinion, Chrome and Gmail are just awesome products. They are fast, secure and easy-to-use. that's what I was looking for! Chrome is really faster than IE, or Mozilla, it's way more user-friendly, I just love the fact that there is only one search bar tool, and Google instant is really great. My favorite application with Gmail is that you can upload your messages from other platforms (outlook, hotmail, yahoo...) and manage your mails on one unique platform: Gmail, that's so practical, and the fact that you have a huge storage capacity enables that. I've been using Gmail also for work and I think it fits just fine.

Yet, some products have not convinced me at all: Google buzz is just a pale copy of Twitter, it's not interactive, not user-friendly I tried and I don't use it anymore.. Then, I don't really like Google docs also, I think it's good if you want to organize something or if you just want to do a quick draft, but I don't think the products are good enough to compete with Microsoft Office. I like the idea of being able to work on something all together (you can be 50 people working in the same time on a google doc), but I still believe Google should upgrade Google docs.

Laurent

Thanks so much for your positive participation in our discussion! It seems like people have various opinions when comparing Google Docs with Microsoft Office. So everyone, what's your preference?

Laurent Corigliano wrote:Hi,

In my opinion, Chrome and Gmail are just awesome products. They are fast, secure and easy-to-use. that's what I was looking for! Chrome is really faster than IE, or Mozilla, it's way more user-friendly, I just love the fact that there is only one search bar tool, and Google instant is really great. My favorite application with Gmail is that you can upload your messages from other platforms (outlook, hotmail, yahoo...) and manage your mails on one unique platform: Gmail, that's so practical, and the fact that you have a huge storage capacity enables that. I've been using Gmail also for work and I think it fits just fine.

Yet, some products have not convinced me at all: Google buzz is just a pale copy of Twitter, it's not interactive, not user-friendly I tried and I don't use it anymore.. Then, I don't really like Google docs also, I think it's good if you want to organize something or if you just want to do a quick draft, but I don't think the products are good enough to compete with Microsoft Office. I like the idea of being able to work on something all together (you can be 50 people working in the same time on a google doc), but I still believe Google should upgrade Google docs.

Laurent

I would generally prefer using Microsoft office, especially for presentations. The Google docs presentation App is too simple and doesn't offer enough design templates. In general, the only benefit of Google docs is being able to collaborate with other people. I used Google tables a couple of times with my friends for planning trips, e.g. trip expenses or meal plans.

Does anybody use the new Google+ service? I really like the way you were able to categorize your friends into different groups. When writing something on your wall, you could choose which groups are supposed to receive the comment. Actually, facebook has now also implemented this feature.

So Laurent think some of Google´s services such Buzz and Google Docs are inferior to the offerings of other competitors. What about Google latest attempt to conquer social space. Have any of you guys get to play around with Google+ ? How does it compare to Facebook? Would you consider switching?

For me, google is quite awwwwwwwwesome.

The best part of google is it's really easy to switch from other software/application to their products...except from facebook to google+
I can use SMTP server in gmail to integrate all my other emails. (but it has limitation for 5 emails only >.<)
And it's convenient to use chrome extension to open some IE ONLY pages, especially for those stock exchange and financial related ones!!

I suggest that google might start to think of working on compatibility to some Mac device.
Maybe Apple is one of the main competitors for google. However, from the aspect of device provider, apple is getting bigger quite fast.

Check the news here.

Til now, most of applications in google aren't really apple-friendly, like as it's not comfortable to use google applications on iPhone or iPad.

Thanks Muric, I think your idea that Google should try to fit Mac device is great! Just as what the news you provided tells us, Apple is really enjoying its boost in the enterprise~ Perhaps Google really doesn't like Apple, so he just wants to fight against iOs instead of catering to it。。。
As to the integration of other emails, i don't think gmail is unique, at least in China many email systems can do this, even without a limitation of emails amounts...So is there any other opinion about that??

Mu Jou wrote:For me, google is quite awwwwwwwwesome.

The best part of google is it's really easy to switch from other software/application to their products...except from facebook to google+
I can use SMTP server in gmail to integrate all my other emails. (but it has limitation for 5 emails only >.<)
And it's convenient to use chrome extension to open some IE ONLY pages, especially for those stock exchange and financial related ones!!

I suggest that google might start to think of working on compatibility to some Mac device.
Maybe Apple is one of the main competitors for google. However, from the aspect of device provider, apple is getting bigger quite fast.

Check the news here.

Til now, most of applications in google aren't really apple-friendly, like as it's not comfortable to use google applications on iPhone or iPad.

I am also in the opinion that the Google products are designed to be very user friendly. However, every time I think about a google application or their browser I am also concerned about my personal data and how much I can trust this company with it. I think this is the biggest issue for me when it comes to using google products.
Concerning their social media platform google+. I have not yet used it and think that as long as most people use facebook actively it is not really worth the hassle and most people will stick with this platform. However, in the long run facebook will most likely end like myspace and most people will move to a different, more innovative, platform if facebook is not able to keep up with its competition. Currently I dont see a benefit in switching services.

For me, I prefer Google Doc to Microsoft since it is a Cloud services and I can access my files everywhere! In my situation, I use 3 computer to do my daily activities (one for home, one in lab and another one in company), and Google Doc make me more convenient and it is unnecessary for me to copy the file to the USB flash drive.

Hi all,

Generally I tend to use different services depending on the task at hand. I think for me it's easier to use separate email accounts for different scenarios. ie. Work = Gmail, Friends = Yahoo, etc. In terms of the services Google offers I'd say the only thing I really use religiously is Gmail and Chrome. I like the ability of labeling/tagging emails, and the way it allows me to share my contacts onto my HTC smartphone. But as I mentioned above, I didn't need to "switch" from Hotmail or Yahoo-mail since I still use them quite often as well. As for Chrome, I enjoy its speed as well as its tie in with Google apps. I'm seeing a lot of movement in the web scene that are starting to utilize Chrome as a way to serve their web apps. Check out MockFlow, its a web app that lets users create a mock layout of their webpage, mobile app, etc. Nevertheless, I still use other browsers like Firefox for their added compatibility and numerous extensions.

I'd have to agree with Laurent in that some of the other product offerings from Google such as Google Docs, is only useful in certain situations. I found myself using it more now that I'm back in school, but when I was still working full time prior to NTU, I barely touched it. It does allow for collaborative work, but I still find myself exporting the documents back to Micro$oft Office for the final touch ups. Lastly, I think I have to give props to Google+ for racking up so many users in such little time, however, most of the friends that added me to Google+ never really use it after their 2nd or 3rd updates...most of them still just use Facebook. I myself find it very hard to manage 2 social networks, so I chose to stay with Facebook. I think Google+ tried to differentiate itself from FB by introducing Circles, but at the end of the day, it still looks like a bite off of FB - my 2 cents

Pierre

I'm personally using and have used several Google Services, such as Gmail, Google Search, Calendar, Youtube, Google+, Google Analytics and Adsense.

Privacy Issues
The general reception of Google Services on the internet is often very ambivalent and split between content users and users who have privacy concerns with Google Services. I think it is often exaggerated when stating that Google would be selling one's personal data. I do not have these concerns, although I take it with a grain of salt that Google is probably crawling all my content and information to improve their database and ad placement.

Google Search
99% of my search queries I'm running through Google. It serves satisfying relevant results and as many other Google services has a very simplistic, minimal design that is to my taste, I especially approve the latest changes. Google also has the advantage that users and me are too familiar to its search and are lazy to change and adapt other engines, e.g. Bing.

There is also barely any competition for Google to rival Youtube.

Gmail is my email client of choice. It is safe and backed-up automatically (except of the last incident of lost mails and system failure). It is a very performant and convenient client to manage all my mails. The interface is great and simple.

I used to use Google Calendar for my class schedule and appointments, but since I have a Windows Phone 7 smartphone now, I switched to Windows Live calendar. Google is not very helpful in supporting 3rd party applications, e.g. it's not possible to sync and manage multiple calendars there.

Google+
Personally, I'm quite excited about Google+ as a competitor to Facebook.
Although, since the initial buzz, I started to mainly use Facebook, but I very much dislike it. It has a horrible interface, friend management and privacy settings are completely user-unfriendly. It has especially horrible and opaque policies about our personal information. I also feel the urge to throw up every time I see a "Magic Nut" or Farmville post on pin walls.

I'd much rather trust my personal data in Google's hand. After all they have a reputable name as a serious business entity. And we know more or less how they make their money. I can't say that about Facebook. I think we can all agree on that behind Google there are some really capable developers and idea makers, far superior over Facebook's. We can probably expect better quality, technology and innovation from them.

will add some stuff later on, have to go now

Josephine wrote:For me, I prefer Google Doc to Microsoft since it is a Cloud services and I can access my files everywhere! In my situation, I use 3 computer to do my daily activities (one for home, one in lab and another one in company), and Google Doc make me more convenient and it is unnecessary for me to copy the file to the USB flash drive.

Microsoft also offers cloud based solutions such as Skydrive and Microsoft office 365. In future version of Office and Windows cloud apps will be seamlessly integrated into the desktop. In this case, would you rather use Office based web apps?

EsbenSvaneKrarup wrote:

Josephine wrote:For me, I prefer Google Doc to Microsoft since it is a Cloud services and I can access my files everywhere! In my situation, I use 3 computer to do my daily activities (one for home, one in lab and another one in company), and Google Doc make me more convenient and it is unnecessary for me to copy the file to the USB flash drive.

Microsoft also offers cloud based solutions such as Skydrive and Microsoft office 365. In future version of Office and Windows cloud apps will be seamlessly integrated into the desktop. In this case, would you rather use Office based web apps?

Really? I will try to use it and I will use it instead of using Google Doc if I find Skydrive is better.

Hi guys,

I still use Microsoft office, and when I need to share a file, I simply use Drop Box.
Personally, I’m quite fed up with social networks, so I’m not attracted at all with Google plus.
Though Google is still the first search engine I use, and even if I still have an MSN account, I only use Gmail now...

Even if it seems more convenient to integrate all the services under one banner, I not really comfortable with the idea of addressing myself to the same company for everything I have to do on the wed. I would prefer to be diverse if have the possibility.

KEISLER Romain wrote:

Even if it seems more convenient to integrate all the services under one banner, I not really comfortable with the idea of addressing myself to the same company for everything I have to do on the wed. I would prefer to be diverse if have the possibility.

Hi Romain, is it for privacy reason that you prefer to use diversed sources?

Google is primarily a search engine company. If it has a dominant position in many Western countries (often the default search engine), what about countries where it is still facing challenges? I am especially thinking about Asian countries, could one fo you guys share your point of view if you are using another search engine (Bing for instance), if you would be ready to switch to Google, ...

When looking at the moment I will adapt a new technology or product I consider myself as part of the early majority.
This is also the case with google products, except of the search engine which I've been using since the beginning.
Since 1 year I'm using Google Chrome instead of Internet Explorer, and I noticed directly that this product is far superior.
I believe that almost all google products are superior compared to it's competitors, but the problem with some products
is that switching is quite hard because the competitors created a kind of ''lock-in'', e.g. Facebook.

I believe that the reason why the google product don't work perfectly in coorporation with products of
other companies(read: competitors) is because google will fight them in the future. On this moment the Iphone is
probably the best in its segment, so when google will coorporate with Apple there will be no reason for people to
switch from the Iphone to a Google phone. When google improves its mobile phones, they will be a good competitor of Apple an others.

Considering the privacy issues I'm not afraid that Google is misusing the data they generate. Collecting this data is
done fully automatically and will only improve the services google is delivering. So from this point of view I even
encourage data generating.

Melvin Loggies wrote:When looking at the moment I will adapt a new technology or product I consider myself as part of the early majority.
This is also the case with google products, except of the search engine which I've been using since the beginning.
Since 1 year I'm using Google Chrome instead of Internet Explorer, and I noticed directly that this product is far superior.
I believe that almost all google products are superior compared to it's competitors, but the problem with some products
is that switching is quite hard because the competitors created a kind of ''lock-in'', e.g. Facebook.

I believe that the reason why the google product don't work perfectly in coorporation with products of
other companies(read: competitors) is because google will fight them in the future. On this moment the Iphone is
probably the best in its segment, so when google will coorporate with Apple there will be no reason for people to
switch from the Iphone to a Google phone. When google improves its mobile phones, they will be a good competitor of Apple an others.

Considering the privacy issues I'm not afraid that Google is misusing the data they generate. Collecting this data is
done fully automatically and will only improve the services google is delivering. So from this point of view I even
encourage data generating.

Switching is quite hard since of the using habit. But more people try to use Gmail instead of using Hotmail so I think Google do a great job and their products are excellent expect the social networking tool

Hi guys,

Short answer to the first question:

Yes, I slowly adopted many Google tools, and always more:
- my main search engine is Google since...almost always
- my landing page is my "iGoogle"
- I use Google Chrome since more than one year, I find it more user-friendly and faster than Firefox (which I used before) and IE, and now I hate when I have to use them (for instance to connect to the NTU Wifi)
- I left hotmail for Gmail (I used hotmail mainly for msn messenger when I was a teenager, now I don't use it anymore and use gtalk and skype, and also I wanted to have a more serious email-address)
- I started using Google docs one year ago to share some documents with friends, even if I also use dropbox now
- I started sharing my pictures via Picasa one year ago. I mainly use it with my family because I don't have them on facebook.
- I started using Google agenda a few months ago (before I used the Outlook agenda)
- I don't use Google +...yet. I will probably "have to" soon because my friends start to use it.
- and I think it is only the beginning !

Sometimes I don't even remember why I chose Google tools. Maybe these tools are more user-friendly, but I am not sure it is the case for all of them. I think I just found Google tools before I found other solutions because once you have a google tool you find the others, it is very practical to have every tools working together, and also because the google network is always expanding (when your friends invite you to share a google doc, then you want to do it as well for instance).
To conclude, even if I feel somehow manipulated, I am quite convinced by Google tools !

As said, my homepage is Google, my main browser is Chrome, my maon mailbox is Gmail, my main online group discussion panel is Google docs.
Google.com provide a very simple UI, show no useless information. Someone may likes Yahoo! web page which are very colorful, but it's too annoy to me.
Although it's much easier give out zh-cn result compare to past, it's still provide the most useful information to me.
Chrome is a very fast web browser. It also has a simple web UI. And the other advantage of Chrome is it can synchronize bookmark anywhere. I don't need to create bookmerk again, no more problem for seeking website.
For me, Google's service all have some advantages: quick, simple, synchronized anywhere.

Hey everybody,
After having read your question and comments, I would like to share my view.

Search Engine
I always use google search as my only search engine and hate when I for some reason suddenly land on bing. Not that bing is not good (I cannot tell) but I just don't know it well enough and it doesn't come up with the search results that I am used to. I guess, we are all creatures of habit... So here comes my question to all of you: are there actually anyone who does NOT use google search as their main search engine? If so, why not?

Google+
I do have an account but haven't played with it a lot as it is just no fun when you only have five friends. I like the idea of circles and am sure it provides other new features that makes it a worthy alternative to facebook. The problem is again, that we get stuck with what we know (facebook). Another problem is, that I feel that I am already spending (and often wasting) too much time on facebook. Keeping TWO profiles updated (facebook and google+) and uploading all my pictures TWICE is just not going to happen!
On second thought, if goodle+ becomes the new shit, then of course I want to be part of it. So add me guys ;-) leeannhollesen@googlemail.com

GoogleMail
As you just saw, I do have a gmail account. I just don't use it. A long long time ago, I started with gmx (quite famous in Germany), then switched to hotmail because it offered more space. At some point, that space wasn't enough either but then I figured out that if you state in your hotmail options that you live in the US, you will automatically get more space than when you live outside the US. Today, hotmail offers 5GB as a standard which is more than enough for me.
Reasons for me to switch to gmail in future could be: more storage and because gmail sounds more professional than hotmail (at least in my ears). Main reason for NOT switching: because it is just so damn convenient to stay!

Chrome
I have a mac, so I use Safari BUT I also have Chrome, and Firefox installed. I use Safari for everyday usage, use Chrome when browsing Chinese websites (due to its instant translation function) and use Firefox when the other two are not working properly and to check if my websites look nice in all browsers. I haven't noticed that Chrome is faster than the others. And why haven't I? Probably because (and I know, I keep repeating myself) we are creatures of habit and I just use Safari out of habit.

Miscellaneous
Other Google apps I use regularly are google images, news, translate, maps, books and igoogle. If in future google+ will take over facebook's role and web-based office will take over Microsoft office, then I will almost only rely on google. I don't think I want that...

I think Google has given up its Chinese markets. We admire Google, talk about Google, but not use the search engine any more. Not only because it quit, but also that other search engines could also meet most of our needs.
Google is facing many chanllenges in South Asian markets (eg. Malaysia), many Asian search engine companies (eg. Baidu) are trying to open these markets (Since they know that they have no competatives against Google and bing in Western countries, they turn to these relatively immature markets.)

LeopoldineVivant wrote:

KEISLER Romain wrote:

Even if it seems more convenient to integrate all the services under one banner, I not really comfortable with the idea of addressing myself to the same company for everything I have to do on the wed. I would prefer to be diverse if have the possibility.

Hi Romain, is it for privacy reason that you prefer to use diversed sources?

Google is primarily a search engine company. If it has a dominant position in many Western countries (often the default search engine), what about countries where it is still facing challenges? I am especially thinking about Asian countries, could one fo you guys share your point of view if you are using another search engine (Bing for instance), if you would be ready to switch to Google, ...

Xiaowei Wen wrote:I think Google has given up its Chinese markets. We admire Google, talk about Google, but not use the search engine any more. Not only because it quit, but also that other search engines could also meet most of our needs.
Google is facing many chanllenges in South Asian markets (eg. Malaysia), many Asian search engine companies (eg. Baidu) are trying to open these markets (Since they know that they have no competatives against Google and bing in Western countries, they turn to these relatively immature markets.)

Do you think that Google should adopt a more "localized" strategy and try to fit the expectations of the Asian customers? According to you, what could be the reasons of Google's difficulties in Asian markets? What should they do next?

hi guys,
I use gmail, google search, and google docs.

E mail
Originally I was using hotmail. I still use it, but just like Pierre mentioned, I use gmail and hotmail for different purposes. But honestly speaking, I am not fully satisfied with organizing e-mails in gmail. Currently I use multiple computers regularly so I just let it use it as is, but when I had main computer and once in while I had to use different computer to check my e-mail, I imported to Mozilla Thunderbird in my main computer.

Search engine
I've been using several kind of search engines, and ended up with google. It's only because google had better search ability. If there is better search engine for me, I am fine to change it. Once in while I hear that in Taiwan, Yahoo is the most used search engine. http://www.my-life-in-china.com/online-marketing/asian-search-engine-market-shares-20092010/ Though numbers are different by sources, rank order seems to be same. So maybe Taiwanese class mate can answer LeopoldineVivand's question?

Google docs
It's convenient to work with other people. But the compatibility isn't really good, so at last minute I have to clean up to use it by Microsoft office. If their compatibility goes up I will use it more often for sure. Or I can start considering to use Microsoft products.

Others
I switched from IE to Firefox because I was not satisfied with it. The reason I stay with Firefox is so far I don't have much complaints. If chrome is faster like other people says, I can try. When I was working, I used to use google calender sharing schedule with colleagues. We were small company but employees were internationally spread. So it was quite useful.

Rio

Hi,

concerning the Asian markets, I think this argument is so true! Providing a relevant information on the search engine is key, as first it is necessary to serve the user, but also because this is the cornerstone of the online ad market: if the information provided by the search engine is not relevant, the ads on it won't either. And i think that's why some local competitors are doing way better than Google!

Xiaowei Wen wrote:I think Google has given up its Chinese markets. We admire Google, talk about Google, but not use the search engine any more. Not only because it quit, but also that other search engines could also meet most of our needs.
Google is facing many chanllenges in South Asian markets (eg. Malaysia), many Asian search engine companies (eg. Baidu) are trying to open these markets (Since they know that they have no competatives against Google and bing in Western countries, they turn to these relatively immature markets.)

LeopoldineVivant wrote:

KEISLER Romain wrote:

Even if it seems more convenient to integrate all the services under one banner, I not really comfortable with the idea of addressing myself to the same company for everything I have to do on the wed. I would prefer to be diverse if have the possibility.

Hi Romain, is it for privacy reason that you prefer to use diversed sources?

Google is primarily a search engine company. If it has a dominant position in many Western countries (often the default search engine), what about countries where it is still facing challenges? I am especially thinking about Asian countries, could one fo you guys share your point of view if you are using another search engine (Bing for instance), if you would be ready to switch to Google, ...

Hey,

I think the war on social space is only at the beginning, and it's quite interesting, indeed I was first (3-4 years ago) quite reluctant to post private stuff on the cloud, and now I wanna use every products..
The big challenge for Google for social is not to do a great free social product, but to win against facebook..and I don't believe that the two of them can really co-exist, indeed even if Google + is quite a mix between twitter and facebook (since you don't have to request someone's friendship to follow him), I don't feel like updating two different accounts to say exactly the same stuff.. I already loose a lot of time due to Facebook ( as many of you I suppose!). So How can you make people switch from facebook to Google+. Personally, I won't do that choice today.
Finally on the user experience side, I do like the idea of circles, the HTML 5 of Google + is brilliant. Still I don't think it's clear enough for the average user, Google has to make it more interactive and more user-friendly.
One key advantage: the hangout option! being able to video chat with several people on google + that's awesome!

EsbenSvaneKrarup wrote:So Laurent think some of Google´s services such Buzz and Google Docs are inferior to the offerings of other competitors. What about Google latest attempt to conquer social space. Have any of you guys get to play around with Google+ ? How does it compare to Facebook? Would you consider switching?