Wikipedia is 19 years old. Since its launch in 2001, it had only changed its interface once, and that was in 2010. After a decade, Wikipedia is now ready to embrace more changes to its website.
‘Clunky and Overwhelming’
Olga Vasileva, the project manager for Wikipedia’s redesign, admits the website is no longer up to scratch.
“While Wikipedia’s content has grown rapidly, our interface has not kept pace,” said Vasileva. “The design of desktop Wikipedia has not seen any substantive changes for the past 10 years, leaving certain elements of the site’s navigation feeling clunky and overwhelming.”
How the New Wikipedia Will Look Like
Wikipedia kindly provided a teaser of what its new website will look like after Vasileva has finished with the redesign.
The page will have a sidebar folding feature to remove the “clunky and overwhelming” bits of the interface.
Wikipedia’s logo will be smaller, too. Joining the logo on the banner will be the table of contents, which is currently on the left-bottom side of the interface.
Wikipedia will be gradually updating its interface until these are completed in 2021.
Here’s a rough preview of what Wikipedia’s redesigned interface will be like.
???? Coming soon: We're launching a refreshed look for all desktop users in 2021! See some of the new features in @verge. https://t.co/tqNgdOBcJC
— Wikipedia (@Wikipedia) September 24, 2020