Introducing Facebook Paper

Most of you do not like when Facebook makes changes, so brace yourself for another one.  More like an additional app to set the pace for future changes.

Beginning February 3rd you will be able to experience your Facebook News Feed in a new way on your iPhone through Facebook Paper.  This app will turn your News Feed into a digital newspaper.

As I look at the appearance it reminds me of Flipboard.  This new way of viewing your News Feed will be interesting and honestly will be more visually appealing, which means it will probably take off. 

Why launch on iPhone?

In the words of Norm Schurdell, “We first create for the more strict architecture (Apple) because things flow fairly smooth after that when moving on to Android.”  This does not mean Facebook only likes iOS, besides they are probably testing it there first so the bugs can be worked out before launching on all devices.  Smart step in my opinion.

Will this change how the News Feed is displayed on Desktop?

Currently, no.  In the future, most likely.  As we approach a new era where the app and mobile devices take over, you will begin to see your desktop turn into another type of mobile device that will be app based.  You can see this is coming with how Apple has launched an app store for laptops and desktops.

More and more you will see websites looking more like mobile web apps on your desktop.  We will begin designing for mobile first, with tablet to follow suit and then translate that onto the desktop version.  This does not mean design needs to be compromised, but we will begin seeing more and more of these changes soon.

Thank you for reading.  If you like what you read please share and if you have questions feel free to ask them in the comments below.