Being More Efficient with Google Docs & Spreadsheets' New Look

Google Docs & Spreadsheets just got a whole lot nicer to use. While the Google word processor / spreadsheet combo has been around for a while, its interface has always been a bit like the standard Gmail interface - utilitarian, but a little Spartan. And unlike Gmail, Google Docs & Spreadsheets hasn't given the user any good way to organize his/her documents, other than by starring them.

Until now.

Announced on the 26th of June and unveiled a day later, Google Docs & Spreadsheets has a new basic interface that will make dealing with large numbers of documents (and arranging them how you want), easier than ever. Note that the editing interface (where you actually use the word processor or spreadsheet) has not changed, only the main page to Google Docs & Apps.

The first thing you'll notice upon logging into the new interface is that it's a lot more efficient. Previously, a user could really only take in around 20 documents. The text was large, and there wasn't usually a lot of room for a large number of documents, because the default was to cut off your documents list after only 20 items. Now, however, the list - while still showing the name and date of last edit, allows for more items. I honestly don't know how many documents can be shown at one time, but I currently have 53 documents stored in Google Docs & Spreadsheets, and all 53 are visible. No longer will users have to click to view all items... they're already all visible!

In addition, Google Docs & Spreadsheets has added the great feature that allows users to arrange their documents by folders. Similar to how folders in an email client work, a Google Docs & Spreadsheets user can create different folders, such as Work, School, Kids, etc... which will allow them to store their documents in a logical way. In addition to being more efficient (it's a whole lot easier to find something when you know generally where it will be), this allows for a larger number of documents to be dealt with. Instead of having to scroll through screen after screen of document titles, a user can now navigate to a particular folder and take in just a subset of all the documents.