#10yearchallenge & the Evolution of Web Interface Design on Popular Websites

Vũ Khôi

Author at Wotech Electronics Blog

How has web interface design changed over the past decade?

The #10yearchallenge seems to still be sweeping across social media, and to ride that trend, today Markdao invites you to explore how the world's most visited websites have changed their web interface design over the past 10 years.

What has Google changed in its web interface design?

The most notable change to the Google search engine over the past 10 years was the logo redesign in 2015. This was a major milestone, because Google had used its old logo from 1990 to 2010 without any changes. In addition, if you look closely, you will notice that Google's web interface design has now become more minimal, with much more white space compared to the rather cluttered look of the past.

Web interface design and YouTube's transformation

Ten years ago, YouTube had only existed for 2 years as a subsidiary of Google. A decade on, YouTube's web interface design has changed visibly — like Google, the YouTube site is now designed along grid-based trends with a style as minimal as possible.

Amazon and the #10yearchallenge

More than 800 billion dollars have flowed into its market capitalization and countless product lines have been launched over the past 10+ years, yet Amazon's web interface design has actually become simpler. Compared with the old days when all information was crammed onto the homepage, Amazon today tries to show only the most prominent and important information, with everything else tucked into menus.

How has Facebook, the biggest social network, changed its web interface design?

The answer: compared with other websites, Facebook seems to have changed its web interface design very little over the past 10 years — most notably its homepage. The only small change is the logo, which the social network redesigned in 2015.

Reddit and its web interface design "makeover" over the past decade

Reddit has been around for more than 10 years with a few changes; it was only in mid-2017 that the current web interface design was announced, and in mid-2018 Reddit began rolling out various large topic groups.

Wikipedia has changed its web interface design slightly

If you are a Wikipedia devotee, you will surely have noticed that over the past 10 years the only changes are a slightly modified globe icon of languages and a trimmed-down list of language choices beneath the globe.

The #10yearchallenge and Yahoo!

Over the past decade Yahoo made a few small but noticeable changes: first, a shift in its purple tones, and second, a new logo redesign. But its "jam-packed" layout (putting everything on the homepage) remains Yahoo!'s never-changing style.

Yahoo

The New York Times

The change in The New York Times' web interface design is an effort to look more like a print newspaper, with simple section dividers, black text, and a 4-column layout.

Craigslist

Craigslist could be said to have seen few significant changes on its website since its founding in 1995. But if you look closely, you'll notice the Craigslist website now has more white space, larger text, and better use of space.

IMDB

IMDB has undergone a fairly big change in web interface design over the past 10 years: a focus on video content, film awards, and the movies releasing each week.

CNN

CNN, like the New York Times, has a simpler layout with a clear visual hierarchy and text presented in larger sizes.

Microsoft

Microsoft in 2009 was a completely different company. Just by looking at the menu items in Microsoft's web interface design in 2009 versus 2019, we can see that Microsoft has shifted its focus from technical software to tools suited to end users.

How has Apple's web interface design changed over 10 years?

Ten years ago, the Apple Store was only 6 months old and had just celebrated 500 million app downloads. Today, the Apple Store has sold more than 130 billion apps — 260 times as many as before. In addition, the website's homepage has changed clothes with a new design language and full-screen imagery.

Walmart

Walmart has simplified its website like many others — more white space and less content.

Zillow

Also following the minimal style in web interface design, Zillow seems to present only the most prominent details on its homepage, hiding other information in the header and footer.

Yelp

Yelp is another example of web interface design in the flat design (grid-based) style, with plenty of white space, large, easy-to-read text, and large images. Specifically, this website helps you find the restaurants nearest you.

Stack Overflow

Stack Overflow's homepage is still devoted to the list of top questions; however, after 10 years, the homepage has added a sign-up section for new users.

Etsy

Over the past 10 years, Etsy has charted a new direction — no longer just a marketplace for handmade goods, but also an e-commerce website serving other items with a vintage, personal, and unique style.

Professional web interface design with Markdao Agency Vietnam

In short, from what Markdao has just presented about the changes in web interface design across the most popular websites, you can probably see that after a decade these sites have become almost uniformly more modern — grid-based styles, as minimal as possible, presenting only the main content along with high-quality, full-screen images. This is also predicted to be the web design trend of 2019, bringing comfort, modernity, and professionalism to visitors of your website.

If you need anything or have questions about anything related to website design, don't hesitate to contact Markdao!

Address: 14 Phan Ton, Da Kao Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

HOTLINE: +84 2871 099 090

Email: [email protected]

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