In recent news, Google has announced the much-anticipated redesign of its flagship workspace productivity suite, now more formally known as Google Workspace. This redesign is seen by some as a direct response to Microsoft’s dominance in the productivity space, as the company’s Microsoft 365 offering has become the go-to suite for many organisations and businesses.
The move is part of Google’s ongoing effort to capture a larger portion of the enterprise technology market, and the new look of Google Workspace is indicative of this goal. As such, the redesign is a comprehensive one, with changes being made to the overall user experience and aesthetic, as well as to the core features of the suite.
For starters, Google Workspace now takes on a more modern look, departing from its previous “dated” design. This includes a new, more consistent colour palette, as well as sharper, simplified icons for some of the service’s core functions such as Google Docs and Sheets.
In addition to the visual changes, users of the suite will notice some major improvements to the functional aspects of the software. These include better control over in-app notifications, improved share options, and an easier-to-find search tool. All of these changes are meant to make it simpler to use the tools within Google Workspace and foster greater collaboration.
Google has also made a significant shift in branding strategy, introducing a single identity for all of their work-related products. Going forward, the company will be branding all of its services together under the Google Workspace banner, which incorporates popular offerings such as Gmail, Google Sheets and Hangouts.
Finally, the Workspace suite has also come to include some new features that are intended to give it the edge over competing services. These include an AI-powered search tool as well as a new feature called Smart Canvas, which allows organizations to drag and drop content from different applications into a single document and format them all in a single layout.
Overall, Google’s move signals a major shift in their approach to the enterprise market, and could mark the beginning of a major challenge to Microsoft 365’s pole position. Only time will tell if Google will be successful in its bid to overthrow their chief competitor, but one thing is for sure – the competition for the enterprise productivity software market is about to heat up.
