YouTube Offers Preview Of Upcoming Redesign

In a blog post written yesterday, YouTube announced that the look of its website will be undergoing some changes in the coming months.

To showcase the redesign to users and obtain critical feedback, 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.

“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,” stated the YouTube team in the blog post. “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 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?