Google+ hasn’t been the runaway success that Google probably hoped it would be. It launched to a collective ‘meh’ from the entire web, while some of its UI just didn’t sit right. One such feature was ‘Incoming’ which Google has just decided to tear down.
Incoming was a section in Google+ that let you see a feed from people who’d added you to their circles but who you hadn’t dragged into yours. Some people made use of this to determine if it was worth adding people who’d added them (follow?) but most just found it unnecessary.
The killer Google+ patent up Google’s sleeves
Google’s had a visit from Captain Hindsight, and has come to agree with the latter point of view. But Google hasn’t just removed Incoming, it’s lambasted it. In the Google+ blog, a statement reads “we learned that the ‘Incoming’ stream was a very confusing part of Google+.”
Google claims that the reason it’s no longer needed is that it’s “added a suggested user list, What’s Hot, the ability to share circles and in-product search with saved searches.” And that Google+ now boasts a “greatly improved” friend suggestion algorithm.
Google’s ongoing problem with UI design
But the word from users seems to be more in line with the ‘very confusing’ reason. We’ve been on at length in the past about Google’s apparent lack of user interface design nous so we won’t bang on about it here, but it looks like Google+ may follow the Android route to UI success: a war of attrition.
Whether it can slowly add or remove enough features to become more of a finished product and take on Facebook more seriously remains to be seen. Are you on Google+? Will you miss the ‘Incoming’ stream? Let us know below…
