YouTube have announced, via a new blog post, that the look of the
massively popular video sharing website will be undergoing some major
changes in the upcoming months.
In an effort to obtain some critical
feedback from users, YouTube has also elected to provide a sneak
preview of what the ‘Videos’ page will soon look like.
When compared to the current video browsing
page, the changes seem to be very subtle, but the folks at the most
popular online video community are hoping that it is enough to get
people started talking, which many have begun doing.
More In The Works
The YouTube team announced in the blog post:
“In a constant effort to improve the user experience and
incorporate your feedback we’ll be making a number of large changes to
the site over the next few months,”“In addition to making improvements upon existing features,
we’ll be rolling out some brand new items that are still in the works.”
Among the changes in the new interface are the red search bar
(currently silver), redesigned tabs, and the addition of menus that
drop down upon rollover.
The left sidebar, where users currently browse through popular
pages (Most Recent, Most Viewed, etc.) and select categories has been
completely eliminated in the coming design, in favor of the dropdown
menus just above the video previews (as seen in the screenshot).
Combined, all of these changes seem to make the page seem much
less cluttered, even though the same number of videos is being
displayed on each page.
YouTube has informed users that “these new changes will go
live very soon, so make your voice heard while we’re still workin’ out
the kinks,” which has already led to more than 50 posted comments about
the new look.
Not All Are Impressed
Not all users seem to be impressed however. Several mention in
the comments that the red bar is “too loud” and “bold,” while another
detests the use of pop-up/rollover menus. One blogger even suggest that
YouTube take
some cues from its own blog for a redesign.
With the number of users YouTube has amassed, it will be
virtually impossible to please everyone, but the site has decided
wisely by obtaining feedback from those who use the service via its
blog before
permanently making any changes.
What do you think about the sneak peek?
Michael Garrett is a contributing author discussing the social networking world, his work can be found on Profy.com
