LinkedIn - Kicks It Up A Notch - App Review

LinkedIn released an update to their less than impressive 1.0 release.  Within seconds of opening the App after completing the update, I will have to say…stunning.  They really nailed the UI and UX design of this App.  The icons and graphics are creative, modern and aesthetically pleasing.  The graphics alone will draw me back to the App.  I love that the icon for ‘You’ is a name badge and lanyard…clever and relatable.

I just can’t get enough of this App.  They really did step up their game with this release.  The first release of the App, I might have opened a few times.  I have found myself opening the App at least 3 times already today.  It really is spot on.  Twitter integration is seamless and will entice me to keep coming back to the App.

LinkedIn didn’t just update the graphics.  The user experience and intuitive updates to the features and functionality is spot on.  Some highlighted features that are much more enhanced:

• Twitter Integration!!

• It took me a little while to find this feature as it is located at the bottom of the ‘You’ section.  BRILLIANT!!  This provides a very nice design for the Twitter Feed.  I can now update and follow my Twitter from within the LinkedIn App.  This is HUGE!!! 
• Inbox.  
• Accessing and sending messages via LinkedIn is much more user friendly with this version.
• Groups and More. 

• Accessing the Groups and reading through the updates and streams is even easier via the mobile app than on the website.  Being able to keep up with the latest posts and the ability to respond provides an outlet to make users more interactive with LinkedIn than previously.  There is even the ‘Like’ button…something most users have gotten used to with Facebook has now been incorporated into the experience in this App.
• Searching through ‘People you may know’ and adding them to your network is now very simple and just a scroll and tap away.
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• Updates.

• Scrolling through the LinkedIn Today has now become as easy as scrolling through a Twitter feed.  Again, based on the usability and pleasing graphics, this entices me to interact more with this App. 

Pros

• It’s Free.
• It’s Beautiful.
• It allows another channel to keep up with business trends, targeted groups and anything your network is doing.

Cons

• My con was going to be the App not having Twitter Integration.  That was my first reaction on my first pass through.  It was a bit hidden and not obviously placed.  As you saw above, as I dug deeper, I found it.