By Inspiringly
Google are known for their focus on simplicity. They also invest lots of time and effort into the design of their products.
This time, however, they seem to have hit the wall with quite a bad design idea about the new look of their email service - Gmail.
What's Wrong with the New Gmail Design
Look at the screenshot below:
Source: Google.com
There is nothing wrong with the design itself, it follows the new material design rules by Google and the animation has pretty straightforward and clean design.
The problem is that the very same animation opens when you visit the main Gmail page e.g. when selecting Gmail from the menu on the Google website and when you are logging into your Gmail account i.e. after you have entered your Gmail credentials to open your mailbox.
Simply put, you see the very same animation before and after you are logged into your Gmail. Furthermore, in both cases it says "Loading Gmail". Just open your Gmail using the menu on the Google site and then log in into your account to trigger this behavior.
Frustrating from Security Point of View
Well, maybe other services use the same logic for their main page and pages that are hidden behind a login but it is not a good idea by any means.
The first impression is that you have left your Gmail account open for someone else to use. It is not that simple but this is definitely a frustrating experience in times when we read news about data leaks and stolen user credentials day in and day out.
A better approach is to make two distinguishing animations that clearly state when you are opening the main Gmail page and when you are opening your Gmail account.
It is really interesting to see if this is an intentional design by Google or someone just followed a wrong user experience logic. The new Gmail design is released gradually to individual users and business users of G Suite and this misleading animation might be part of an A/B test by Google.
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