I don’t know about you but I like simple things that just work. Known for my honest opinions on all things LinkedIn I always greet news of an interface update with some trepidation but in this instance it appears to be good news.

There is a new simpler, cleaner and less cluttered interface coming to LinkedIn users all over the world during the next month and I like it! It is taking the similar theme to the mobile interfaces, sleek and elegant and should make it easier to access the key aspects of LinkedIn in similar and consistent ways to the mobile experience.

They have even thought about how we move around the site and semi hidden the menu bar as we scroll for it to reappear as soon as we move the mouse up to it, very slick.

There are some downsides though, for example you cannot access your own company profile as easily and the groups you are a member of are more difficult to readily access, skills has been taken out of the top menu and left inside your profile, you cannot easily view your profile as others see but on balance I have to say it is a positive enhancement to the experience and a great step forward.

According to their blog post they have been quite smart this time around, analysing the data of how people have used the menus, what they have looked at, how often and used this to define the pieces that you value (and they do!) to structure the new interface.

This is what the new LinkedIn navigation bar looks like.

In summary the interface is clean, moved around, more prominence for search, fewer options (at a surface level) and a new drop down menu gives you quick access to your account options, language and settings.

Here’s the video from LinkedIn explaining more.

This is all going to be rolled out globally over the next month, I think it looks good, reserve judgment till I get hands on but what do you think?

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