Days after it first began offering stock in a rocky initial public offering, Facebook has quietly begun testing a new look for user profiles, or “Timelines,” the company confirmed to TPM.
Here is a view of the new Timeline view Facebook has begun testing on selected user profiles. Click to enlarge:
Compare it to the old Timeline view, first introduced in September 2011:
The new look creates subtle but noticeable changes to the top of user profiles, chiefly moving the user’s name, home location, occupation, education, and other basic information into a layer of text atop the “cover photo,” the widescreen image that serves as the backdrop for a user’s profile. The text has been changed to white to stand out against the dark colors of a user’s cover photo.
The new view also adds a whole new tab on a user’s profile, the “Summary,” which when clicked, shows a list of the major “Life Events” of the user. The “Likes” section of a user’s profile has been changed to read “Favorites.” The new test also condenses current tabs, including the “Friends,” “Photos,” “Map,” and new “Favorites,” into a smaller space just below the cover photo, making for a more streamlined design.
Facebook declined to specify how many user profiles the new test would involve, as well as whether the new look would eventually be the standard for the website.
