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UI redesigns are mostly a waste of time (2019)

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Re: UI redesigns are mostly a waste of time (2019)

#3

He's right. The design should be integrated on small piece by small piece. You can have an overall vision. But don't change it all at once.

I agree. One piece of advice I like to give is, "Change only the one worst thing." Figure out what you (or, preferably, your users) hate most. Change only that one thing. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Re: UI redesigns are mostly a waste of time (2019)

#6

Can anyone here explain why YouTube (namely the mobile interface) goes through a total redesign every 1-2 years? Is it just to earn some unknown manager another promotion? I'm getting really sick of it at this point.

Pretty much that, yep.

There's very little productive new ground to grow on if you're working on YouTube.

There's existing glaring site problems, but they're on purpose and ideologically driven (shorts, placebo dislike, subscriptions mean nothing) so no one is going to touch them. It's politically safer and more advantageous to mess with the UI and irritate all the users every couple years.

Re: UI redesigns are mostly a waste of time (2019)

#9

People like to use software they can trust. Having an out-of-date UI is a violation of trust. It says that whoever owns it doesn't care about it anymore.

Just wait 15 years and it'll be back in fashion. Aero Glass is already back!

Re: UI redesigns are mostly a waste of time (2019)

#10
post #6

Can anyone here explain why YouTube (namely the mobile interface) goes through a total redesign every 1-2 years? Is it just to earn some unknown manager another promotion? I'm getting really sick of it at this point.

Pretty much that, yep. There's very little productive new ground to grow on if you're working on YouTube. There's existing glaring site problems, but they're on purpose and ideologically driven (shorts, placebo dislike, subscriptions mean nothing) so no one is going to touch them. It's politically safer and more advantageous to mess with the UI and irritate all the users every couple years.

What ideology is driving this?
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