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> When they redesigned the profiles recently there was a lot of pushback. There was massive amounts of pushback. Until the moderators started deleting posts, a

> When they redesigned the profiles recently there was a lot of pushback. There was massive amounts of pushback. Until the moderators started deleting posts, almost half the posts in the beta-subreddit was complaining about them, asking them to be rolled back. But did they listen to their users? No. They actively censored and silenced people who were complaining. That tells us that this new "redesign" is not for the users. It's for someone else.

trophycase 9y ago
Enjoy this sleek new UI so we can embed video ads in between content!
- flukus 9y ago
  And then they'll shut off the API to third party apps that actually make the site usable on mobile.
  - m_eiman 9y ago
    They've got a serious design issue on mobile. Compare the two screenshots below: https://twitter.com/m_eiman/status/913863382364770304 https://twitter.com/m_eiman/status/913863382364770304 Which one is using text that is somewhat on the small side, and which one is a vast, empty vacuum of useless whitespace? :P
Rainymood 9y ago
I still hate the profile redesign, thankfully you can go back to 'legacy' mode somewhere hidden in the options ... but I'm afraid they will take that out soon as well.
- ubernostrum 9y ago
  RES has a toggle which will auto-redirect you away from any new-style profile page to the old user profile page for that user. I rely on it heavily for moderation, since the mod toolbox extension has a search function over a user's history, but it only works from the old-style profile page (or at least, that was the case when I first had to turn on the redirect).
  - mynameisvlad 9y ago
    There's (currently) a toggle under Beta preferences: > View user profiles on desktop using legacy mode (by enabling this, you will view all user profiles in legacy mode) Don't know how long it'll be there for, but it should save you a bit of time since there's no redirect that has to happen.
    - ubernostrum 9y ago
      I'm not using the redesign beta.
- klmr 9y ago
  My big issue with the profile redesign is that the the individual items in your feed (?) aren’t links any more. You can’t Ctrl-click, right-click or scroll wheel-click them any more. There’s (as far as I can tell) no way of opening them in a new tab at all^1. Every click will take you away from the profile. Which is a shame: visually I like the redesign. But it’s unusable. I’m honestly a bit in awe at this level of active UX hostility. ^1 … unless you enable the option causing all items to be opened in a new window. Obviously that’s also not what I want.
  - zeveb 9y ago
    boggle Isn't that the way everyone uses Reddit: open up link list, middle-click link, middle-click comments, middle-click link, middle-click comments, repeat ad infinitum, then read, comment, read, comment and so on? Same same with HN.
    - slazaro 9y ago
      The problem is that they're making assumptions on how people use the site and then break years and years of conventions that are used on mostly every website.
      - slig 9y ago
        These conventions are there because it's the default, not because most people use them. Here on HN and most of the old reddit users certainly use that, but I doubt that the majority of reddit today (including the team of 20 designers making the new design) care about it "middle click to open in a new tab".
        JoshMnem 9y ago
        middle-click or ctrl-click: open link in new tab shift-click: open link in new window Overriding the default browser behavior has no benefits.
        9y ago
- digi_owl 9y ago
  There is also ps.reddit.com...
blauditore 9y ago
Just because there are lots of complaints doesn't mean the majority doesn't like it. Usually, unhappy users are more likely to say something than happy ones. There has been a similar situation with Ubuntu and Unity: A vocal minority kept on complaining that Unity be a step back from gnome. Now that Ubuntu has dropped it, many users state to actually have liked Unity and are sad about that change.
- Scarblac 9y ago
  And that in turn also doesn't mean that the majority preferred Unity, it's simply the same phenomenons again: people tend to dislike change, and only the people who dislike the change let themselves be heard.
- amorphid 9y ago
  I hate the mobile Reddit site. It's slow to load, obtuse to navigate, and pushes the crappy mobile app on me. Before now, I had complained plenty, just not to Reddit.
  - ryanmerket 9y ago
    To be fair, the mobile site was the last thing shipped by the last administration and hasn’t had much love since.
  - digi_owl 9y ago
    Why i go to i.reddit.com if i do not have a mobile device with an app (preferably Redreader on Android) within reach.
  - xkjkls 9y ago
    Why not use the app? That seems like a better investment of their time to optimize anyways.
    - yellowapple 9y ago
      I personally do use an app, but not the official one (because Slide is better). Still, though, for platforms that might lack a good reddit app, a good mobile site is kind of important.
prolikewhoa 9y ago
The new profile overview is terrible. I always switch it back to legacy since I can't follow the new overview. There is no way to keep it permanent in the legacy site that I know of. Uneeded changes like this was how Digg failed.
heiie9292 9y ago
Yeah when you trot out “actively censored and silenced people who were complaining” you may want to consider whether they were a vocal minority or not. Especially if your measure is “posts on forum in question itself known to be games by bots and spammers for the lulz alone”
jamoes 9y ago
> They actively censored and silenced people who were complaining. Forget the issues with design. The active censorship by both Reddit admins and power-hungry moderators is the real issue that Reddit is facing. Reddit used to be a bastion of free-flowing ideas and discussion. Now it's a hive of groupthink and curated brand-friendly content. I still frequent Reddit because it has enough network-effect to still be worthwhile to me. But that can change on a dime, often triggered by something unrelated, like a UI re-design (e.g. like what happened Digg).
- gashad 9y ago
  I'm surprised the article didn't call out what happened to Digg during their redesign and subsequent flood of users leaving for Reddit. I figured that's why Reddit thought it was worth the money of hiring 20 designers.

trophycase 9y ago

Enjoy this sleek new UI so we can embed video ads in between content!

flukus 9y ago
And then they'll shut off the API to third party apps that actually make the site usable on mobile.
- m_eiman 9y ago
  They've got a serious design issue on mobile. Compare the two screenshots below: https://twitter.com/m_eiman/status/913863382364770304 https://twitter.com/m_eiman/status/913863382364770304 Which one is using text that is somewhat on the small side, and which one is a vast, empty vacuum of useless whitespace? :P

Rainymood 9y ago

I still hate the profile redesign, thankfully you can go back to 'legacy' mode somewhere hidden in the options ... but I'm afraid they will take that out soon as well.

ubernostrum 9y ago
RES has a toggle which will auto-redirect you away from any new-style profile page to the old user profile page for that user. I rely on it heavily for moderation, since the mod toolbox extension has a search function over a user's history, but it only works from the old-style profile page (or at least, that was the case when I first had to turn on the redirect).
- mynameisvlad 9y ago
  There's (currently) a toggle under Beta preferences: > View user profiles on desktop using legacy mode (by enabling this, you will view all user profiles in legacy mode) Don't know how long it'll be there for, but it should save you a bit of time since there's no redirect that has to happen.
  - ubernostrum 9y ago
    I'm not using the redesign beta.
klmr 9y ago
My big issue with the profile redesign is that the the individual items in your feed (?) aren’t links any more. You can’t Ctrl-click, right-click or scroll wheel-click them any more. There’s (as far as I can tell) no way of opening them in a new tab at all^1. Every click will take you away from the profile. Which is a shame: visually I like the redesign. But it’s unusable. I’m honestly a bit in awe at this level of active UX hostility. ^1 … unless you enable the option causing all items to be opened in a new window. Obviously that’s also not what I want.
- zeveb 9y ago
  boggle Isn't that the way everyone uses Reddit: open up link list, middle-click link, middle-click comments, middle-click link, middle-click comments, repeat ad infinitum, then read, comment, read, comment and so on? Same same with HN.
  - slazaro 9y ago
    The problem is that they're making assumptions on how people use the site and then break years and years of conventions that are used on mostly every website.
    - slig 9y ago
      These conventions are there because it's the default, not because most people use them. Here on HN and most of the old reddit users certainly use that, but I doubt that the majority of reddit today (including the team of 20 designers making the new design) care about it "middle click to open in a new tab".
      - JoshMnem 9y ago
        middle-click or ctrl-click: open link in new tab shift-click: open link in new window Overriding the default browser behavior has no benefits.
        9y ago
digi_owl 9y ago
There is also ps.reddit.com...

blauditore 9y ago

Just because there are lots of complaints doesn't mean the majority doesn't like it. Usually, unhappy users are more likely to say something than happy ones. There has been a similar situation with Ubuntu and Unity: A vocal minority kept on complaining that Unity be a step back from gnome. Now that Ubuntu has dropped it, many users state to actually have liked Unity and are sad about that change.

Scarblac 9y ago
And that in turn also doesn't mean that the majority preferred Unity, it's simply the same phenomenons again: people tend to dislike change, and only the people who dislike the change let themselves be heard.
amorphid 9y ago
I hate the mobile Reddit site. It's slow to load, obtuse to navigate, and pushes the crappy mobile app on me. Before now, I had complained plenty, just not to Reddit.
- ryanmerket 9y ago
  To be fair, the mobile site was the last thing shipped by the last administration and hasn’t had much love since.
- digi_owl 9y ago
  Why i go to i.reddit.com if i do not have a mobile device with an app (preferably Redreader on Android) within reach.
- xkjkls 9y ago
  Why not use the app? That seems like a better investment of their time to optimize anyways.
  - yellowapple 9y ago
    I personally do use an app, but not the official one (because Slide is better). Still, though, for platforms that might lack a good reddit app, a good mobile site is kind of important.

prolikewhoa 9y ago

The new profile overview is terrible. I always switch it back to legacy since I can't follow the new overview. There is no way to keep it permanent in the legacy site that I know of. Uneeded changes like this was how Digg failed.

heiie9292 9y ago

Yeah when you trot out “actively censored and silenced people who were complaining” you may want to consider whether they were a vocal minority or not. Especially if your measure is “posts on forum in question itself known to be games by bots and spammers for the lulz alone”

jamoes 9y ago

> They actively censored and silenced people who were complaining. Forget the issues with design. The active censorship by both Reddit admins and power-hungry moderators is the real issue that Reddit is facing. Reddit used to be a bastion of free-flowing ideas and discussion. Now it's a hive of groupthink and curated brand-friendly content. I still frequent Reddit because it has enough network-effect to still be worthwhile to me. But that can change on a dime, often triggered by something unrelated, like a UI re-design (e.g. like what happened Digg).

gashad 9y ago
I'm surprised the article didn't call out what happened to Digg during their redesign and subsequent flood of users leaving for Reddit. I figured that's why Reddit thought it was worth the money of hiring 20 designers.