LinkedIn revamps its mobile app with a new profile look
The social network for professionals aims to prep you for a meeting even if you're five minutes late.
LinkedIn has a new look for its mobile devices, displaying what it hopes is more relevant information on user's profiles.
The social network for professionals said it rebuilt the way profiles look on its service in an effort to help users learn about one another quickly.
In particular, the company redesigned the way its mobile app displays profiles for three different cases, all based on how much time users have. If they have five seconds, they just read the top, so LinkedIn put information next to a user's name that includes what you have in common, like if you went to the same school or have similar connections.
If you have a minute, you'll probably scroll down and start reading about a person's work and interests. If you have five minutes, you'll delve in, click on a user's work history, and learn about what they did.
"This key information is what we're focusing on," said Tomer Cohen, head of LinkedIn's mobile product team and, as I learned from the new app, a Stanford alum.
This effort to revamp profiles is the latest for LinkedIn, which is pushing to grow beyond its current size of 300 million members.
In particular, a lot of the company's attention has been focused on mobile devices, following a surge of use. Three years ago, LinkedIn said, 8 percent of users were connecting with a mobile device. This year, it expects more than half will.
Cohen said LinkedIn has responded by releasing new apps, such as its job search product, to meet the needs of its increasingly smartphone and tablet-centric user base. "We were trying to get to those new use cases," he said.
If you don't have a lot of information in your profile, LinkedIn's app will take care of that too -- by reminding you to update with more information. The company said listing where you went to school, for example, dramatically increases how many people interact with your profile.
Another key feature: LinkedIn will now tell you how other users found you on the site. When users check the "Who's Viewed Your Profile" section of its mobile app, they'll be able to tell if someone found them in a search, for example.
These new features will launch on mobile devices first, LinkedIn said, but will eventually spread to the website as well.