The new Google under CEO Larry Page will focus on products that truly meet user needs, according to Google employee No. 20 Marissa Mayer.
Mayer, Google’s VP of consumer products, spoke Wednesday night in New York about the future of the Internet search giant under co-founder Page, who took the CEO reins from Eric Schmidt last year.
In her view, Page’s decision to streamline Google’s product line has focused its teams on services that really meet user needs.
Money quote:
Larry is very focused on product and on users, and I think that you can feel that … Having a CEO in a more product-oriented role ultimately makes everyone think about what they’re building and whether it is beautiful, it’s excellent, and it’s a seamless user experience.
I take Mayer at her word and would suggest that Google get to work on its productivity applications. The old Google knew how to do elegant design — as the spare, white search page attests. So what explains the nightmare that is GMail? And, to put it gently, Microsoft Word doesn’t have that much to fear from Google Docs. (This is coming from someone who is not enamored of Office’s bloated feature set.)
So to reiterate Erica Ogg’s plea for a better Google Docs in GigaOM last year, please Google, I’m begging you, put that project on the front burner. Please.
Photo courtesy of Flickr user Adam Tinworth
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