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Reddit is in dire need of a UI/UX improvement. The site is unuseable without the Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES) browser extension. Honestly it feels like deve

Reddit is in dire need of a UI/UX improvement. The site is unuseable without the Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES) browser extension. Honestly it feels like developers have not made a significant change to Reddit in years. Screw advertising revenue, Reddit needs to begin making improvements gradually to its user interface or else it risks becoming a dinosaur.

vezzy-fnord 11y ago
The site is unuseable without the Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES) browser extension. Not much of a Redditor, but could you elaborate as to why the vanilla Reddit UI is "unuseable"?
- theseatoms 11y ago
  Yeah, I hear this often, but I've never used RES and the site seems fine. Maybe I have some form of Stockholm Syndrome..
  - kelseydh 11y ago
    Once you use it, you'll be amazed at how behind the times Reddit is. The main improvement is loading all the images on one page, rather than needing to click and read each individually. RES has had this feature for years, it blows my mind Reddit hasn't made their feature set default for the site. Besides its impact on bandwidth, its such an obvious improvement to UI/UX.
  - ars 11y ago
    The most useful thing in it is the ability to load an image or video inline in the page. A single click and the image is there, and resizeable by dragging the mouse. It does other things too, but the images is the most important IMO. Without it you have to keep clicking back and forth from page to image.
    - qu4z-2 11y ago
      I actually prefer to open images in new tabs. I do use the keyboard shortcuts though. If I had to use the mouse to switch I'd probably go insane too.
    - wingerlang 11y ago
      I've used RES for years, just turned it off yesterday. The only thing I noticed was the inline things and 'ctrl + b' not working when bolding something. Autoload on scroll as well but that was even annoying at times.
- renata 11y ago
  Blocking subreddits from /r/all is basically essential for a decent reddit experience and is only available with RES or reddit gold.
SwellJoe 11y ago
Yeah, they're down to what, 7 billion pageviews a month? How will they survive?
- kelseydh 11y ago
  If Facebook kept its original design it could be argued they wouldn't be where they are now. Most people don't notice how much Facebook changed its UI over the years because the changes have been gradual. If Facebook as a site had not evolved, there is chance that they wouldn't have survived. Reddit has hardly seen any update in its appearances and I believe within 5 years it will be at risk of losing its user base if it does not evolve its front-end to make the slight improvements that are so obviously overdue (looking at you, Reddit Enhancement Suite).
- mahouse 11y ago
  That's an interesting argument taking into account the site spends half the day down. ;P
techwizrd 11y ago
On the contrary, many redditors would disagree with you. Reddit's format works very well for consuming and focusing on content and comments. Redditors are considering whether to abandon Reddit based on the community aspects and the actions of the admins. Those require far more work than just a UI/UX improvement. Many redditors also browse from mobile apps such as a Reddit Sync or Alien Blue. Those redditors will gain little from UI/UX improvements to the desktop, but they stand a lot to gain or lose from changes to Reddit's content rules and community policies.
- kelseydh 11y ago
  Fair enough, but you know you are !@#$ing up your software development when you have absolutely no mobile presence you can control or make ad revenue off of. Reddit has been stuck in a development black hole for years. If they are pumping out new features, they certainly aren't features that user's can notice or appreciate. You can get away with this neglect for awhile, but too much of it and your platform will stagnant. Features like better content blocking at the user level are definitely more difficult than UI/UX, but they are also necessary for Reddit to reach the next level. Honestly, rather than pursue advertising, if they got their !@#$ together to find new content streams, they could easily bring in lots of cash. They are stuck in a mindset that only their existing feature sets should be the ones that exist. Contrast that with Facebook who made many bold additions to their platforms over the years (news feed, chat). There are ways of doing this without becoming Digg. (The answer is by not removing existing functionality, but by adding to it.)
  - konradb 11y ago
    > when you have absolutely no mobile presence you can control or make ad revenue off of Reddit bought Alien Blue, why wouldn't that count?
  - dangerlibrary 11y ago
    You're right. Craigslist needs an overhaul as well - it's hurting their bottom line. While we're at it, HN is pretty crap on mobile, they should fix that - I'm sure people will like the change. Stack Overflow has barely updated their layout for years - they are stuck in the past. Everyone loves it when gmail and facebook force them into a different UI - people rave about the new features and definitely don't leave/complain/get confused/lose trust. Why don't other people learn from their shining example?
jedberg 11y ago
People have been literally saying this since the first month of the site. It doesn't seem to be holding back growth. That being said, what reddit does need is a separate interface for people that don't like the current one. That already exists in the form of the various mobile apps. With a few tweaks to the api, they could easily build a whole new desktop UI for folks like yourself who want something different, to run alongside the existing one.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

vezzy-fnord 11y ago

The site is unuseable without the Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES) browser extension. Not much of a Redditor, but could you elaborate as to why the vanilla Reddit UI is "unuseable"?

theseatoms 11y ago
Yeah, I hear this often, but I've never used RES and the site seems fine. Maybe I have some form of Stockholm Syndrome..
- kelseydh 11y ago
  Once you use it, you'll be amazed at how behind the times Reddit is. The main improvement is loading all the images on one page, rather than needing to click and read each individually. RES has had this feature for years, it blows my mind Reddit hasn't made their feature set default for the site. Besides its impact on bandwidth, its such an obvious improvement to UI/UX.
- ars 11y ago
  The most useful thing in it is the ability to load an image or video inline in the page. A single click and the image is there, and resizeable by dragging the mouse. It does other things too, but the images is the most important IMO. Without it you have to keep clicking back and forth from page to image.
  - qu4z-2 11y ago
    I actually prefer to open images in new tabs. I do use the keyboard shortcuts though. If I had to use the mouse to switch I'd probably go insane too.
  - wingerlang 11y ago
    I've used RES for years, just turned it off yesterday. The only thing I noticed was the inline things and 'ctrl + b' not working when bolding something. Autoload on scroll as well but that was even annoying at times.
renata 11y ago
Blocking subreddits from /r/all is basically essential for a decent reddit experience and is only available with RES or reddit gold.

SwellJoe 11y ago

Yeah, they're down to what, 7 billion pageviews a month? How will they survive?

kelseydh 11y ago
If Facebook kept its original design it could be argued they wouldn't be where they are now. Most people don't notice how much Facebook changed its UI over the years because the changes have been gradual. If Facebook as a site had not evolved, there is chance that they wouldn't have survived. Reddit has hardly seen any update in its appearances and I believe within 5 years it will be at risk of losing its user base if it does not evolve its front-end to make the slight improvements that are so obviously overdue (looking at you, Reddit Enhancement Suite).
mahouse 11y ago
That's an interesting argument taking into account the site spends half the day down. ;P

techwizrd 11y ago

On the contrary, many redditors would disagree with you. Reddit's format works very well for consuming and focusing on content and comments. Redditors are considering whether to abandon Reddit based on the community aspects and the actions of the admins. Those require far more work than just a UI/UX improvement. Many redditors also browse from mobile apps such as a Reddit Sync or Alien Blue. Those redditors will gain little from UI/UX improvements to the desktop, but they stand a lot to gain or lose from changes to Reddit's content rules and community policies.

kelseydh 11y ago
Fair enough, but you know you are !@#$ing up your software development when you have absolutely no mobile presence you can control or make ad revenue off of. Reddit has been stuck in a development black hole for years. If they are pumping out new features, they certainly aren't features that user's can notice or appreciate. You can get away with this neglect for awhile, but too much of it and your platform will stagnant. Features like better content blocking at the user level are definitely more difficult than UI/UX, but they are also necessary for Reddit to reach the next level. Honestly, rather than pursue advertising, if they got their !@#$ together to find new content streams, they could easily bring in lots of cash. They are stuck in a mindset that only their existing feature sets should be the ones that exist. Contrast that with Facebook who made many bold additions to their platforms over the years (news feed, chat). There are ways of doing this without becoming Digg. (The answer is by not removing existing functionality, but by adding to it.)
- konradb 11y ago
  > when you have absolutely no mobile presence you can control or make ad revenue off of Reddit bought Alien Blue, why wouldn't that count?
- dangerlibrary 11y ago
  You're right. Craigslist needs an overhaul as well - it's hurting their bottom line. While we're at it, HN is pretty crap on mobile, they should fix that - I'm sure people will like the change. Stack Overflow has barely updated their layout for years - they are stuck in the past. Everyone loves it when gmail and facebook force them into a different UI - people rave about the new features and definitely don't leave/complain/get confused/lose trust. Why don't other people learn from their shining example?

jedberg 11y ago

People have been literally saying this since the first month of the site. It doesn't seem to be holding back growth. That being said, what reddit does need is a separate interface for people that don't like the current one. That already exists in the form of the various mobile apps. With a few tweaks to the api, they could easily build a whole new desktop UI for folks like yourself who want something different, to run alongside the existing one.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]