A proposal for new functions and changes in the 2.0 Side Pane

I've put a lot of thought into UI changes I'd like to see, just on the Sidebar alone. Most of these are cosmetic, a few have deeper function which I think would greatly enrich user experience. It certainly would sure as hell enhance mine.

Home:

I never click on the "Home" page in the 2.0 side pane. It seems useless for a user that's been around more than a week, and has several buttons that are redundant. World Map, Quick Start Guide, those two buttons are already down at the bottom of the pane and the help link could easily be consolidated with quick start.

I sat back and thought about what, as a user, I would like to see when I first log on. My "home" should be where I check every day, that has valuable information that is relevant to my SLife.

In 2.0, Group Notifications have been exiled to a ghetto of UI design. They pop up in a bottom corner, their readable text window is miniscule, and to see more than a few words you need to scroll. You can hardly see the group image anymore, and if you move your mouse away for even a second it fades! Group Notifications are one of the ways that people keep abreast of news that's relevant to their social lives or interests, and should be easily seen when first logging on.

My proposal is that instead of having static links to things most users have outgrown, show a hub of activity and news that updates constantly. On the "Home" page, have the most recent group notices from all of the groups that you're a member of in an expandable window. How about a blog feed? Link to important SL news to keep people informed who rarely visit the website.

You could cram all sorts of valuable information in there, like a tip of the day, featured events (I show the Destination Guide, but it could also have links to SLCC or the Linden Snowball Fight or the Marketplace), online duration and whether or not it's your rez day. There's so much potential which is currently going unused.

Profiles:

I'm disappointed in the changes made to the profile pane. I know that multiple profiles being open is an issue, but so is the general layout. A new aspect ratio for profile pictures broke a lot of content already uploaded by users, and with TPV's and 1.2 viewers still being available a lot of it is never going to be fixed. I made a mock up with my own profile which uses some of Starlight's changes, along with a few changes I think would be very well received by the community.

A larger profile picture in the original aspect ratio, our avatars are ours and it's fun to show them off.
A new "languages spoken" section, which seems to be the thing most listed from the old "I want to.." tab
The return of the "My Notes" tab, which was a valuable "permanent notecard", great for jotting down notes on places to go or people to get in touch with
A separate "1st Life" expander inspired by Starlight
A sensible hierarchy of information, starting with the most relevant to someone reading a profile at the top and going down to less generally needed information at the bottom.

Picks:

Picks have become much more difficult to read, and the thumbnails are small enough that they don't really serve a purpose. I believe you should just being able to click on a "more" arrow and see the entire Pick, in context with the others, without needing to go another "layer" in. Since pictures are pretty and nice to see when you go to a new tab, you could expand the first pick automatically, and have it collapse when clicking on a new one.