As you’ve probably heard (or seen if you’re one of the chosen people), Facebook began rolling out a new homepage design today for the site’s now 400 million users. The redesign comes just in time for Facebook’s 6^th Birthday! (Can you believe it’s only been six years since Facebook launched?) The Facebook redesign emphasizes search, centralizes the site the homepage and allows for easy navigation.

Here are some of the highlights:

• As part of the redesign, you’ll notice that the left sidebar on the homepage has a lot going on. Some features, such as events, that were previously under the Applications tab in the bottom left were moved to the left sidebar on the homepage. You’ll also notice that the left hand sidebar is now home to the Friends tab. When a user clicks on a feature, they now open in the main window where the feed appears, rather than directing a person to a new page.

• Additionally, Facebook Chat and the message inbox have been moved. Users’ Chat list is now on the left sidebar as well. Users can now check their inboxes from a dropdown menu at the top and send messages from there as well.

• On the homepage the search bar is significantly larger and more strategically placed; this is line with Facebook’s recent focus on search. A few months ago, Facebook added real-time search features and last month Facebook’s privacy changes were made so users’ updates would appear in other users’ searches for information. The search bar placement is yet another way for Facebook to stress its commitment to the importance of search.

I think the new design is great! The layout makes Facebook so much easier to use. What do you think of the new design?

-@cristinalepore