- YouTube says its ceaseless design changes occur for a reason, and that is to ensure more visibility for content.
- It shares a few examples of UI changes made recently to reduce clutter.
- These changes are designed to establish consistency across mobile apps, YouTube’s web interface, and apps for TVs.
YouTube’s endless experimentation with its user interface, both on mobile and the web, can feel jarring. It’s almost as if the UI is constantly changing, and at any given time you’ll find different content orientations, experimental placements, and buttons spread across the interface. The next day you’d find these changes reversed, or new ones being tested.
In the last year alone, we’ve seen more than half a dozen major changes. But YouTube recently explained the philosophy behind the move, confirming these changes are intentional. In a recent blog post attributed to Jonathan Terleski, YouTube’s VP of User Experience, the video giant reveals the drive behind these unceasing changes. The blog recounts five such incidents when YouTube’s interface has gone through minimal changes to “reduce clutter and make the app feel effortless to use.” The idea is to make “every pixel count.”
