We’ve been using the new Glean homepage experience and wanted to share some feedback on how it’s affecting day-to-day usage.
What changed (from a user perspective)
Previously, the homepage functioned as a true dashboard: search, calendar, recent docs, mentions (e.g., Jira), and other updates were all visible in parallel. It was a really effective “start of day” (or between meetings) surface to quickly understand what needed attention.
With the redesign, that information is now consolidated into a single scrolling module beneath the search bar.
Where this is challenging in practice
- Loss of at-a-glance visibility
Key signals—upcoming meetings, recent docs, Jira mentions—used to be visible together. Now they’re mixed into a feed, which makes it harder to quickly assess what actually needs attention vs. what’s just informational. - Important updates (e.g., Jira mentions) are easier to miss
Previously, mentions surfaced alongside recent work in a way that made action items obvious. Now they can get buried between other content (like “keep working on” or trending docs), which reduces their visibility and urgency. - “Keep working on X” isn’t always aligned with how the tool is used
A lot of the resurfaced documents seem based on prior views, but for many of us those weren’t things we were actively working on—more often they were reference docs or something we opened via search. Surfacing them as primary items can crowd out more relevant, time-sensitive context. - Trending content adds noise
Trending docs are mixed into the same feed, even when they’re not relevant to the user. This makes it harder to quickly find the items that are actually tied to your work (meetings, mentions, recent activity). - Meeting workflows are less efficient
For back-to-back meetings, the old flow of “open Glean → see calendar → grab relevant docs → join” was very fast. Now, finding the right meeting and its context can require scrolling through unrelated content blocks, opening a new tab to access the calendar, and the surfaced meeting on top isn’t always the most relevant one with tight schedules. - Feed behavior makes navigation harder
Scrolling back up can collapse previously loaded sections, which makes it difficult to revisit or compare items without re-scrolling.
Why this matters
The previous experience worked well because it balanced passive awareness (seeing everything important at once) with active search. The new design leans heavily toward a feed + search model, which is useful in some cases but doesn’t fully replace the dashboard-style visibility.
For our team, that shift has reduced Glean’s usefulness as a “single place to quickly orient,” especially during busy, meeting-heavy parts of the day.
Potential direction
One possible middle ground could be introducing configurable modules or a toggleable dashboard view—so teams can choose which elements (calendar, mentions, recent docs, etc.) are persistently visible vs. part of a feed. That would allow users who benefit from the streamlined experience to keep it, while restoring at-a-glance visibility for others.
Open question to others
Are others experiencing similar tradeoffs with the new homepage? Particularly around visibility of mentions (Jira, etc.), meetings, or distinguishing relevant vs. non-relevant content? Any solutions your teams have found to adjust? Curious how others are adapting, and whether different configurations or workflows have helped.
