Embracing Change

I always find it funny when people whine and moan every time a major website gets a redesign. I saw it a lot in 2009 when Facebook was constantly changing its design. Then later on when #newtwitter came along. And most recently, YouTube's redesign.

When #newtwitter rolled out, everyone complained about how confusing and ugly it was. Contrastingly, I was happy that Twitter finally decided to step it up and implement a couple features that independently owned Twitter clients were all ready providing (embedded photo and video, lists, suggestions, etc.). I guess they just thought it was too much. Which I now totally understand. What always differentiated Twitter from other social networking sites was that it kept everything short and simple. But as the site grew more and more, it was clear that they needed to innovate. And that they did... despite everyone's protests.

With YouTube's recent homepage design, I heard complaints about how the subscription boxes turned into a feed, and how one no longer had the option to go back to the old design. To be frank, I was pretty surprised there was so much hate. I'd changed my YouTube settings to the redesign as soon as it was in beta. Months later I see tweets "OMG YOUTUBE IS SO STUPID NOW!!!!1!1!" Apparently YouTube made the switch to the new design permanent. It was bound to happen sooner or later. People are kidding themselves if they think they have the option to keep an old design 'til whenever they choose.

What I think others fail to see is that there is always reason for what web developers and designers do. They don't arbitrarily make changes to websites because they think it would be cool. They make plans, they examine what people do online and try their best to make tweaks that will make features easier for the user to access in the long run. Everyone is so used to their damned used to their sub boxes and 140 character text-only feeds that they freak out when something changes. Believe me when I say, the designers did not intend to piss you off. They want to make user experience simpler and more functional. Whenever a website or program is in beta I always opt for the newest version (unless I later find that it's too buggy to use). If a site offers me the option to go back to the old settings after a new version is released, I never go back to the old one. I know that in the long run, I'd only be screwing myself. I like to embrace change and feel that everyone else should, too.

Whenever a website or program you frequently use changes, there is reason for it. Stop and think about why someone may have made the changes before you go ramble on about how terrible you think it is because you don't know how to use it yet.