Yahoo tests touch-friendly homepage redesign

Screenshot of Yahoo's homepage on Nov. 9, 2012. / CBS

Yahoo may be testing a redesign that caters to touch-screen devices.

According to AllThingsD, the redesign is being tested on a selected group of users. The new look is still being tweaked, but has a similar look and feel to Windows 8's tiled desktop, Flipboard and Pinterest.

Screenshots sent to AllThingsD from a user testing the new look, reveal tiles of large photos above the fold on Yahoo's homepage. The look is almost identical to Instagram's new online profiles.

Yahoo's iconic homepage has generally been dominated with stacks of text links to top stories within the network. The move to create a touch-friendly homepage is not surprising, considering that the migration to smartphones and tablets continues to grow.

A Pew Internet Project research study released in September shows that 85 percent of American adults have a mobile phone, with 45 percent owning a smartphone. Only about 19 percent own tablets and e-readers, but that number nearly doubled during the holiday season last year, or from mid-December to early January.

The growth in tablets and e-readers is trending upward, along with laptop computers. Compare that with the upward trend of more mobile computing devices with traditional desktop computers, which according to Pew dropped from 68 percent of American adults in 2006 to 55 percent in 2012.

Screenshots of Yahoo's new look can be seen at AllThingsD.

[hypnotoad72]

Mobile phones are useful but unwieldy for long-term use.

Tablets are toys, especially if they require bluetooth peripherals where a plug-in keyboard, mouse, and monitor ensure energy conservation (no batteries being chucked out every 3 weeks...)

True, for plenty of mobile purposes, tablets do have actual advantages, but I wouldn't want to type on its static surface all day. Tactile responsiveness is more ergonomically-friendly to the fingers...