I must admit that I haven’t really kept myself updated on web/UX design trends — to be completely honest, I prefer the popular designs from the 2010s over what what’s taken over in the 2020s. But when I came across this on Reddit earlier today, I had a good chuckle. It’s not an evolution of search bars, per se (because that would include much earlier versions as well), but it’s more of a step-by-step progression of how the simple search bar has been — IMHO — enshittified, like many things, by AI.
As discussed on the Reddit thread, wouldn’t you know it, the search bar on Reddit looks eerily like the final “AI Glow” version.
(I hadn’t noticed, because I still browse Reddit using the “old.” prefix. So instead of www.reddit.com, it’s old.reddit.com. Any Reddit URL can be viewed in its old design using this prefix. I don’t know what I’ll do if/when Reddit discontinues this feature.)
I personally prefer the monobloc version the best out of the six variants above. Which one do you like best? Do you also hate how AI has seemingly seeped into every corner of the web? (Even design?)
