YouTube Testing Description Redesign for Web With Focus on Comments: Report

YouTube is reportedly testing a redesign of the description section on the Web. The redesign tries to put more focus on the comments, video view count, publish date, and video description. The video description that currently shows up under the YouTube channel name will now be showing up right below the video title. There are some other changes that are being tested as well that essentially look to put more focus on user comments. There is no clarity on when these changes will go live for all Web users.

9to5Google reports that Google is testing new design changes on YouTube Web, particularly in the description section. The view counts and publish date show up right below the video title and are much bolder than before. The video description follows right next to the publish date and demands for more compact text than before. If the video description is too long, the new design will make it look quite cramped and if it spills to the second line, a ‘Show More’ option appears. The option to add links might prove to be difficult with this redesign.

Buttons for like, unlike, share, and save appear next to the video description, depending on the size of the window. The channel name resides below the view count in a faintly outlined box. Right next to it is the comments count and top comment, both highlighted in separate boxes.

Just below the channel name will be the option to add a new comment, followed by other less popular comments posted underneath the video. This description redesign for YouTube Web users is in the testing phase and is only showing up for a few random users. There is no certainty that it may be rolled out commercially and Google may just scrap it in the development process itself. The design is also rather unclear and congested, and Google may fine tune it a lot before deciding to roll it out for all users.