Launchpad's new look

Hey - quick update from Matthew Revell: Launchpad’s looking a bit different today! That’s because we’ve begun the roll-out of our next major version of Launchpad.

In fact, you may already have seen mention of Launchpad 2.0 in the press already, such as at The Register and Ars Technica.

There’ll be more from us next week, with a full run-down of what 2.0’s all about. Until then, I’ll hand back to Joey:

When designing the updated interface, many existing user interface bugs were taken into consideration as well as taking inspiration from some of the websites that we love to use. The interface updates are part of a larger effort to make Launchpad easier to use. The first noticeable changes deployed with our previous release, 1.2.6.

Matthew Paul Thomas, who looks after Launchpad’s UI, explained the changes:

“We realize that if you’ve been using Launchpad for a while, these changes may take a bit of getting used to. But we’re confident that the new designs will be more efficient once you’re familiar with them. We also expect they’ll be easier for people using Launchpad for the first time.

“They also pave the way for even simpler interfaces in future Launchpad releases, where you’ll be able to click on something and edit it in place.”

As Matthew said, we are working toward the ability to allow in-place editing where possible. These changes you see in Launchpad today are a step in that direction.

We will be making a few additional adjustments to the interface over the next few weeks as part of our polishing efforts.