Facebook then versus Facebook now: Great design has made all the difference

Can you recall the days of “user revolts” over Facebook design changes?

Every time the site changed even a little bit, Facebook members would kvetch to the rafters that the site was ruined forever and would threaten to abandon it and return to MySpace (hah) or Friendfeed (haaahaha).

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But if we’re being honest, Facebook took the less popular road and made tough design choices along the way — choices that have made all the difference in getting Facebook safely to its 10-year anniversary.

Some of the biggest, boldest changes have happened fairly recently. There was the launch of Timeline in 2011; this brought a modern, competitive, picture-perfect UI that eventually led to a new News Feed in early 2013.

Facebook Home, while less popular with users, was still a gorgeous step in the right direction.

And with the launch of Paper, a beautiful news app, Facebook proves once again that its design credentials are hard-won and still up to snuff.

But perhaps the most important — and most consistent — aspect of Facebook design is its uncompromising commitment to uniformity and simplicity. When users complained about profile customization, for example, Facebook staunchly refused — and saved itself from the MySpace Ghetto Effect of sparkling animated GIFs and auto-playing music.

Here’s a then-and-now look at Facebook design: