Vimeo Redesign

Google bought YouTube some time ago. They still have no idea what they want to do with it. But I say, with Google's extensive resources in their User Experience department, they should really improve the look of YouTube. Here is a screenshot of YouTube:


Mygripe with YouTube does not really concern usability, but rather the overall design of the site. Most of the redesigns I have noticed so far is about usability (like fixing how comments and video descriptions work), which, do not mistake me, contributes greatly to good user experience. However, I also think that graphic design can improve the usability even more. And here is what a good graphic designer can improve user experience in a similar site - Vimeo:


Jakob Lodwick, Viemo's partner, says "YouTube is oscillating between the chaos of automatic, popularity-based rankings and the stability of old-school, owner-controlled editorial. Both are lame and you can see the miserable effects of either in every media outlet that exists today. I would bet everything I own on a third alternative: user-controlled editorial." (via YouMakeMedia)

This is obvious in Vimeo's lack of a popularity contest in the site. It also certainly does away with all the clutter currently on YouTube's front page. Above all, and this is perhaps due to the difference in concepts between YouTube and Vimeo, the former lacks some sort of visual personality that its community can identify with. Personally, I think that, this being a social site, attitude and expression are key to a building a loyal community. And personality Vimeo definitely has, as the following screenshot of the login page shows: