Mashable has reported that there are updates on Facebook layout. Not too long ago, the social networking giant embarked on a major facelift and many are unhappy with the change. Facebook apparently listened to the clamor (or the contact form) and is now embarking on a new layout change. Whether this is the restoration of old design or another round of changes, nothing is certain until we see the new interface.

The Mashable report mentioned that there are five notable areas this change will bring. 

1. Notifications, Requests and Inbox will be relocated to the top left, just next to the Facebook logo.

Currently, these elements are found at the lower right part of the page, not the most prominent area for eye movement, but the red notification indicator is almost certain to catch someone's attention. But that doesn't mean it's good user experience so Facebook made the move.

2. Your profile photo appears within the homepage.

Currently, photo and recent status appears only in the Profile page. They remind us easily if our feed update is a bit outdated and invite us to update a new one.

3. There is a thin border between the notifications and main feed.

Quite minor actually, but this divides the Profile and Feed sections of the new layout.

4. Search form is relocated towards the middle of the page.

Pursuing a better user experience and hopes that the search function will be used more often, Facebook has cleverly moved the search form towards the middle.

5. Messages can be read without leaving the homepage.

Taking advantage of what Web 2.0 brings, reading messages from the Inbox no longer requires a new page load. This helps improve engagement by cutting off the unwanted disruption. Overall, I think the upcoming change is meant to increase the engagement among Facebook users. Personally, I think these are fairly good updates. But the fact that Facebook didn't revert back the major design update it made a while ago does not sway the sentiment of many others.

Photo credit: PCInpact