Reddit keeps testing desktop UI changes ahead of its IPO

Reddit is among the many largest repositories of genuine, human-generated content material, making it everybody’s favorite Google Search keyword once they search real-world opinions and speedy solutions to questions, with none precursory drama and fluff. The UI design for Reddit on the internet and on Android performs an vital function in making such huge data digestible and straightforward to learn. Nevertheless, Outdated Reddit made means for the present UI, however forward of submitting an IPO and offering data for language model training, the corporate is experimenting with a more recent UI design.

Outdated Reddit used a traditional, discussion board discussion-style strategy to topical conversations, that includes rectangular buttons and bins all over the place, easy upvote/downvote buttons beside feedback, and clear, nested replies. The previous UI design caught round for a few years, till Reddit determined to modernize issues with the present UI six years in the past.

A lot to customers’ chagrin, the upvote/downvote buttons have been moved, the house feed featured bigger previews of posts with photographs and embedded movies, and buttons and dialog bins used rounded corners throughout. Notably, the positioning went from a text-first design to a visuals-first UI, messing with years of familiarity and muscle reminiscence for previous customers. The sheer recognition of previous Reddit spawned an ecosystem of browser extensions for the net and Reddit clients on Android providing one of the best of previous Reddit fused with the great bits of the brand new design.

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Sadly, the corporate slammed the brakes on a lot of these initiatives by monetizing its API aggressively late final 12 months. Extra not too long ago, Reddit has been planning to go public, and forward of that, a number of customers, myself and my colleagues at Android Police included, are witnessing minor UI tweaks which don’t appear to profit customers instantly, however absolutely make the net UI resemble the Android app.

First off, we’re seeing curved traces linking the nested replies as an alternative of the straight bars carried over from previous Reddit. What’s extra annoying is the shortcoming to break down a remark to a one-line preview if it doesn’t have replies. However, minimized feedback disappear with out a hint, leaving simply the commenter’s username seen.

Reddit is testing a brand new UI forward of its IPO

In contrast to earlier designs, the brand new one doesn’t make the most of the complete width of your desktop display screen, as an alternative relegating you to a Twitter-like UI with the content material feed within the center, flanked by sidebars on both facet, even within the house feed. The drop-down menus to type subreddit content material are additionally smaller than earlier than, and in a brand new location, making them onerous to identify. Nevertheless, the UI design is evolving each day, and we simply noticed the sidebar on the right-hand facet disappear solely yesterday.

The newest design reveals a sidebar on the suitable solely when shopping a group

In addition to wanting extra just like the cell app, we don’t see a ok purpose for Reddit to tweak the brand new UI into this Twitter-style abomination. Nevertheless, it’s suspiciously timed proper earlier than the corporate’s IPO anticipated this month. Heaping insult on damage, Reddit customers suspect the corporate will axe old Reddit completely after this alteration rolls out extensively, as a result of the corresponding choice has disappeared from the settings web page on the internet.