Review: Pinterest Users and Marketers Enjoy Redesigned Profiles and Added Features
April 3rd, 2012 by
Maybe I’m a little late since Pinterest rolled out its redesigned profile pages two weeks ago, but being fashionably late is kind of my ‘thing.’ Users and businesses using Pinterest for marketing can now enjoy the benefit of more beautiful profile pages and an easier-to-use Recent Activity feature.
The redesign of Pinterest Profiles is more social, displaying influencers and a description. The profile page and its boards are more aesthetically pleasing and image-focused.
Before passing judgment on the latest updates, I wanted to take some time to actually use them first. While the profile page redesign was what dominated the news a couple weeks ago, I honestly think this change is of the least consequence to Pinterest users.
For starters, it’s a rare occurrence that I find myself actually looking at someone’s Pinterest profile. By its very nature the site can keep a curious browser occupied for hours at a time, thanks to the constantly updating feeds of pins. A user can explore pins by category (Art, Humor, Photography, Food & Drink, etc), or by looking at everything pinned by those they choose to follow. Its on these feeds that it’s easy to get lost and suddenly realize you’ve been flipping through delicious-looking photos of desserts you probably shouldn’t eat for over an hour (guilty).
But don’t get me wrong — I really like the new profile design. Borrowing from the social networks we all know and love, Pinterest profile pages are now more informative, displaying who influences you as well as who you influence. The top portion of the profile is reminiscent of Twitter, offering a 200 character description field and the user’s designated profile image.
BEFORE: Before the redesign, Pinterest profiles were blocky and uninspiring.
The user’s boards are displayed in a much more aesthetically pleasing way, showing the most recent pin on that board with thumbnails of several others below it. Like I said, I like it, I really like it! Much improved over the former profile pages which were very square and uninspired.
One new feature I haven’t heard much mention of is the added “Friends to Follow” feature above Recent Activity on the home screen. Improvements to the Recent Activity feed were enough to have me jumping for joy (finally, the stories are clickable!), but the Friends feature put the icing on the cake. While Pinterest already offered a Find Friends feature, it was not the most user-friendly. Now, I can follow friends without even leaving my homepage.
Pinterest users can now follow others without ever leaving their homepage.
According to Pinterest co-founder and CEO Ben Silbermann, who recently spoke at SXSW, the redesigned profile pages are just the beginning of big things in the works for the increasingly-popular social bookmarking site.
Word is that we will finally get an iPad app, and all I can think is “it’s about time, Ben!” In addition to the upcoming app release, the API will also be made public, much to the delight of developers. In January, Pinterest drove more referral traffic than Google+ and YouTube combined, which is all the more reason marketers should not ignore it as a tool for online promotion.
I’ll certainly be on the lookout for the iPad App and other new features to be rolled out soon. What would you change about Pinterest if you had the chance?
