YouTube is testing out a new design codenamed Cosmic Panda. Personally, however, I’d rather see the current performance issues of constant buffering and play fails fixed before any changes to the layout were implemented.
YouTube Design
Some websites look great, some look terrible, it has always been that way right from the early days of the Web. But some are just there, functional, doing what needs to be done in an unobtrusive, non-assuming manner. Which is the category I’d place YouTube in.
YouTube hasn’t really changed much in terms of design since launch, with the logo and basic layout surviving the acquisition by Google and still going strong to this day. And even though it’s a site many of us visit on a daily basis, few of us probably ever notice the dearth of changes.
YouTube ‘Cosmic Panda’
YouTube is currently trialling a new design on TestTube, where all new features and changes get a public airing before being rolled out site-wide. The new design is titled Cosmic Panda, and it really isn’t anything too exciting.
There is an element of YouTube Leanback about Cosmic Panda, with playlists presented horizontally rather than vertically, a darker background behind the video to make it easier to watch, and a much more TV-oriented look to the whole thing.
Channels are also given a makeover in the Cosmic Panda design, with customization options which allow each user to choose from four different templates: Creator, Blogger, Network, and Everything.
Cosmic Panda is a step in the right direction, for sure, but it’s also nothing spectacular or essential.
What About Performance?
My biggest question at this point is what about performance? Is it just me who has noticed a significant slowdown on YouTube over the last few months? It’s understandable with 3 billion videos viewed and 48 hours of new video uploaded every day, but still, it’s making the user experience less pleasurable than it once was.
Surely fixing that should be a bigger priority than a minor redesign which adds very little to the overall experience?
