New Reddit Redesign Rolling Out in 2018 : Get Familiar with the Redesigned Layout
Changes are the way of the world and Reddit is following the footsteps of Facebook, Snapchat, and Digg. Reddit confirmed the rolling out of a new design in 2018 as it introduced the redesigning to a selective number of members on the first week of April. This redesigning process that has been going on for past two years, has initially been unveiled to only 1% of Reddit users. For many users, this came as a shock as Reddit layout has remained the same for more than one decade, since 2008 to be precise. Gradually, this new Reddit redesign will be available to all its users as the opt-in option.
A Close Look at the Reddit Redesigning : New Reddit Layout 2018
Reddit is popularly known to be a site that functions as a forum and social news broadcaster. Users share both information and ideas on this site. To introduce a new Reddit redesign to its 330 million users, a group of designers consisting of 20 people has been working. The designers have taken ideas of customization from the top 2,000 Reddit communities. In the new design, users can choose any of the three options for viewing Reddit contents.
First, comes the “Card” view. Twitter/ Facebook users will find this view familiar.
Next is the “Classic” view, which is almost similar to the current layout of Reddit.
And finally, there is the “Compact” view that fits a lot of things in a single view.
Apart from these, Reddit has emphasized on content creation. To inspire the users, there is a blue button on the Home page, just below “r/all”. Users may click that button to make new posts. There will be different fonts for the outbound links and for the ones that lead to another Reddit post. Another useful feature included in the new design is the “lightbox”. When users will click on a post, it will open in that lightbox while keeping users on the Home page. Thus, users will not get diverted from the Home page even after opening multiple links. The navigation bar has been replaced by the hamburger menu, featuring feeds, profiles, and subscriptions.
The New Reddit redesign is not limited to its layout, as Reddit mascot, Snoo has also got revamped. It has not only received a more 3D look, but will also be seen traveling across the planets rather than standing at the same place. Snoo will also be the default profile picture of all new Reddit users, unless they spontaneously change it. If seen carefully, Snoo has become kind of a spaceship that has two Snoos in it!
Why Reddit Went for New Reddit Layout 2018
Considering the popularity of the present design, many users may wonder about the reason behind new Reddit redesigning. Despite calling itself “the front page of the Internet,” the layout has not had the quality to be the Internet front page. So the changes in the layout have been much needed. The prime reason for this redesigning is its legacy code, which is no longer supported. As a result, designers of Reddit were having a tough time adding or removing any feature. The new design will not only solve this problem, but also relaunch Reddit as the latest Internet destination. Attracting new users to Reddit has been another aim of this redesigning decision. It will surely be a fresh breath of air for the new Reddit users also. They can skip the moment of greetings from Reddit with a “dystopian Craigslist” style Home page.
Final Thoughts
Though changes are inevitable part of our life, most of us favor the “status quo”. Similarly, Reddit has not received much positive response from its existing members. These members did not like the idea of introducing a new design. For Reddit, keeping the existing users and attracting the new ones at the same time is no less than a challenge. This is the reason behind the declaration that both the designs will stay for the time being. This redesigning was the need of the hour as the current design is neither visually pleasing nor user-friendly. Only time can tell whether the new Reddit redesigning would attract new users to Reddit and we have to wait to know the answer.