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LinkedIn finally gets major redesign

Lauren Kate Rawlins
By Lauren Kate Rawlins, ITWeb digital and innovation contributor.
Johannesburg, 20 Jan 2017
LinkedIn desktop has been resigned to match the simplicity of the company's mobile app.
LinkedIn desktop has been resigned to match the simplicity of the company's mobile app.

Professional social network LinkedIn has completely overhauled its desktop layout to create an easier-to-navigate space, adding features other social networks have had for years.

The redesign is the most significant and largest since the company's inception over a decade ago. The new layout mirrors the simplicity already available in its mobile app.

Chris Pruett, LinkedIn director of engineering, says in a blog post the redesign took time "and investment to build from the ground up and in concert with our new mobile app, to provide a LinkedIn experience that is more intuitive, faster and creates more value".

One of the new features is streamlined navigation. There are now seven core areas on the bar navigation: Home (the user's feed), Messaging, Jobs, Notifications, Me, My Network and Search. Before there were two cluttered line-bars with a series of button and drop-down menus.

Another feature is smarter messaging, similar to the box messaging on Facebook, which allows for real-time communication no matter where the user navigates on the platform.

The company has improved its feed and now uses a combination of algorithms and human editors to fine-tune what news appears in it, to make sure it is relevant to the viewer.

Other new features include more intuitive search, insight into who is viewing articles published on LinkedIn, and suggestions on how to improve profiles based on what recruiters are looking for.

The redesign will rollout globally within the next few weeks.

Last June, Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. It is not yet clear how the companies will merge their services. At the time, Microsoft said LinkedIn will continue to operate as its own entity for now but eventually the software giant's business-productivity tools will be combined with the online network of 433 million professionals.

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