

Ask HN: Why is YC's website almost exactly the same as it was 9 years ago? - josephpmay

The Y Combinator website is almost exactly the same as it was nine years ago (see: http:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20051124005340&#x2F;http:&#x2F;&#x2F;ycombinator.com&#x2F;). I remember reading awhile back that Weebly was accepted into the first YC class after redesign YC&#x27;s website in five minutes during their interview. Between the companies in YC&#x27;s portfolio that specialize in web design and the technical expertise of probably every YC partner, a more modern redesign would be trivial. So that leads me to my question: Why had YC decided to keep its early design? Is it just because it&#x27;s not necessary? Is there a specific reason why the current design is optimal? Is a redesign planned but just extremely low priority?<p>Edit: This is referring to www.ycombinator.com NOT Hacker News
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csense
Why do so many websites feel a need to redesign the site every 2-3 years to
keep up with the latest design fads? Do old sites regularly break on new
devices / browsers? Or is it all a scheme to generate employment for web
developers and demand for the increased hardware resources that are provided
by ever-advancing technology?

I find it hard to buy the claim that users really care that much whether your
website uses the latest fads in infinite-scrolling responsive AJAX design as
opposed to an old-school server-generated paginated display. As a user I care
about content more than presentation, and usually interface "innovations" just
end up breaking and making me unhappy. [1]

[1] [http://xkcd.com/1309/](http://xkcd.com/1309/)

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josephpmay
I think a big part of it is a "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality. It's
the same reason why people always want the latest phone or car, or why
businesses are quick to jump on the latest buzzword.

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brandonhsiao
The right question is, what value would a fancier design add? pg talks
constantly in his essays about doing the things that matter-- i.e. the things
that bring the most value-- and I'd imagine he followed the same philosophy
with YC's website.

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simon_
EDIT: Some of this answer maybe still applies, but basically I seem to have
misread the question. Apologies.

HN has in fact changed quite a lot over the years and PG has been visibly
tweaking it continually. I guess you are asking specifically about why the
graphic design has not changed much...

Pretty clearly modernity per se is not worth optimizing for. I have zero
inside knowledge, but some thoughts on what the current design might be
optimizing:

1) HN probably benefits from discouraging undesired users in a variety of
subtle ways. Like the trivial Metafilter subscription fee, an unadorned layout
may create a low bar that discourages extremely casual users. PG is pretty
explicitly NOT trying to rapidly scale HN.

2) The YC partners have a lot of opportunity costs for every hour of work.
Current layout good enough? OK, on to the next problem...

3) Quick load times, works in any browser/OS/device.

To answer your question with a question: what do you think could be
functionally improved by a redesign?

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josephpmay
I'm not asking about HN, I'm asking about www.ycombinator.com

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coreymgilmore
Personally, I like the simplicity. The site is always fast to load, has zero
bloat, and works on any device and any browser. It does not have any crazy
frameworks or things to break.

If I could make a suggestion though, I would love a responsive design that
scaled for smaller screens.

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rfergie
It is one way of signalling "we value substance over style"

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notduncansmith
This is a bit pedantic, but this might be better as an Ask PG.

