I’ve tried them all: Netvibes, Pageflakes, MyYahoo, Yourminis, and iGoogle, to name a few start page providers. Despite my love of new interface interactions, I keep coming back to iGoogle as my customized home page location. And I’ve tried to leave it; believe me, the slick interfaces of Netvibes and Pageflakes have called me many times over. So why do I keep coming back to iGoogle (despite the fact that I can’t stand the name)?

- Fast load times. I’m as impatient as anyone else. I love the fact that iGoogle is lightweight and loads quickly. Many of the slick, Web 2.0-looking apps seem to take forever to load.

- I love GMail, therefore I love iGoogle. My GMail integrates seamlessly with iGoogle. With other providers, the GMail integration was clunky at best.

- A nice, clean interface. Less clutter pleases the eyes. Although I am occasionally bored by the lack of customization and the bland white background, I’ve come to appreciate Google’s clean lines after toying around with several other providers. With that said, I do wish that Google would implement a few additional tools for customizing the interface. For example, I’d love to be able to color-code my RSS feeds by topic.

- The Web feels as though it is a click away. I use Google Maps as well as the integrated Picasa albums frequently, so the other tools I use to manage my daily experiences are close by.

- RSS additions are seamless. Unlike some RSS readers I’ve used, the RSS integration for iGoogle is a no-brainer.

Does iGoogle have its limitations for customization? Absolutely. Are its pre-packaged themes for the AOL crowd hideous and campy? I believe so. Have I sipped too much of the Google Kool-Aid? I hope not. I don’t mean to purport that Google is sole provider of great start pages. If I find something that works better in the future, I will use it. However, Google continues to remain relatively true their mantra: “Focus on the user, and all else will follow.” In this case, they’ve provided a great user experience by keeping my interactions seamless and my interface simple.

Peyton Lindley, Interaction Design