In the past week, Facebook has released a major newsfeed change that makes photos much bigger and a more streamlined interface that looks, well, more like Pinterest. Google Plus? Same thing pretty much. Oh, yes, eBay is now also on the Pinterest bandwagon.
Even Pinterest is releasing a new look so they can look more like Pinterest.
With all the Pinterest-y looks, I am not surprised my inbox has been filled with questions, like should I make my website look more like Pinterest?
Uhm, let’s unravel that a bit.
While Pinterest is indeed the web’s current social media ‘darling,’ that isn’t the reason why web designers are drooling over Pinterest. They’re in love with the way that the site has really streamlined and simplified the social web experience so that busy, time-strapped folks are actually finding time to engage.
I work with many upscale & luxury brands; they’re all saying the same thing: the Pinterest experience is reaching an audience that was just difficult next to impossible to reach before.
It doesn’t take a genius to take a look around Pinterest and say, wow – this is easy to use. It also doesn’t take long to find shortcomings in the site’s design, but you can sacrifice a lot if people are using the site and don’t need all the fluff.
I don’t want you to redesign your site to look like Pinterest. Unless you’re a social network looking to compete with Pinterest, which I wouldn’t advise you to do either.
But you can take away some seriously good lessons about site design from those folks pinning away on their Pinterest boards. You bet that in my recent brand overhaul, we were all looking at Pinterest for inspiration.
How is Pinterest inspiring the way you design, and more importantly, communicate? You don’t have to love, or use, Pinterest, but you can’t ignore it’s impact. Let me know if I can help.