Digg’s New ‘Pics’ Visualization: Pretty And Irritating All At Once

Remember when Digg launched its Images category earlier this month? It was an addition that really couldn’t have come soon enough. The social news company got plenty of notes of appreciation, plenty of big Xs and Os for finally putting it out there for the community. At last there was a convenience place to share all those cool Flickr finds…outside of Flickr. So all around thumbs up, right?

Sure, we can second such impressions. Many of us here at Profy use the site as much as anyone, and we of course also enjoy upgrades – as many of you likely do as well – that make sense and serve a worthwhile purpose.

Which brings us to the news of yet another release (somewhat less pronounced than its inspiration), also produced by Adelson, Rose & Co, that first showed off its candy coat Thursday in that dark and alluring sandbox the company dubs Digg Labs. Yes, indeedio. We speak of the oh-so-fresh ‘Pics’ visualization.

First, lets lay it out open. The new toy is mighty purrty. It’s simple, yet elegant, and like all things that go triple-shot with the glitz, it mostly serves no practical purpose. And that’s cool. We don’t suspect it to be destined for the mainstream. (Whatever that means these days.) It’s there to get a few oohs and aahs out of you, and that’s it. That’s the extent of its function.

Fine by us. But there is something that may bug the viewer. It’s the way ‘Pics’ is constructed.

Okay, we know we’re kind of getting a little nitpicky here, but dare we say that the flashy parade happening before our eyes is going about its performance in less than spectacular fashion.

(Side note: If you’ve read this far and wonder why it is we’ve chosen to cover this mostly unimportant invention, just know this: We like pictures.)

What needs fixin’? Simply put, the method with which individual “diggs” are registered.

Each time an image is “dugg”, a thumbnail of that graphic scoots its way into the gallery, and it proceeds to head eastward as subsequent activity forces other colorful squares through the fold. Seems like a logical approach, right? Yeah, absolutely. But the system bears no intelligence to group promotions of the same image.

What do we mean, exactly? Well, say something has been dugg by a half-dozen users or more within a short amount of time. Rather than signify such streaks with little ‘x2, x3, etc’ addendums to an individual photo, you’re essentially shown a roll of duplicates. If you stick around long enough to get a good feel for the visualization, you’ll easily notice this, and you may find the redundancy can get a bit bothersome. Not hugely annoying. But something that could use some extra attention, for sure.

Again, we admit to nitpicking here, but like all things, criticism is oftentimes crucial to progression, so perhaps this brief review might be thought of as a sliver of a spoke in the wheel that keeps on turning.

It’s difficult to pinpoint much else that may need changing with the Digg Pics photo roll. It’s no doubt an attractive setup. One we recommend taking a look at.

It’s easy to see why many fawn over things put forth by the host company. Such releases show a special affinity for design. And design being a rather important part of life, it’s good to see some people on the production end of the supply chain focus at least somewhat on aesthetics.

What's your take on the new Pics addition to Digg Labs? Like it? Hate it? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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