Flickr to launch redesigned interface next week

Flickr, the Yahoo-owned 'photographer's social network', is to roll out extensive changes to its interface from next week as the site attempts to win back the favour of users.

In a briefing with Betabeat, Flickr's senior product manager Markus Spiering confirmed that the new design would revamp the way photos are displayed, making them four times the current size, but still laid out neatly on the page.

The redesign, which will roll out from February 28, also includes a new upload interface that is intended to look more like a mobile app, enabling users to drag-and-drop images to their Flickr page.

More than 3.5 million photos are uploaded to Flickr via PC and mobile devices every day, and the site reached its sixth billionth upload last August.

But Yahoo has been criticised for its perceived lack of activity over Flickr since it acquired the web service in 2005. Former Flickr engineer Nolan Caudill recently penned a blog post hitting out at Yahoo's "major mistake" in its neglectful handling of Flickr.

There have also been calls for Flickr to split from Yahoo to safeguard its future, particularly as the site is facing increasing competition from rival social networks such as Facebook and Google+, along with mobile image services such as Instagram.

However, Beatabeat said that it came away from the design briefing with the impression that Yahoo is "not sleeping on Flickr". Spiering, who is thought to hold a very senior position within Flickr, said that the site has improved its customer service operation to be available 24 hours a day, and become more scaleable.

Community management of Flickr has previously been branded "an absolute disaster" by some Flickr users. Spiering said that various improvements have been made to the site since 2005, but he added: "We didn't communicate as much as we should have."

He said that the photo page was revamped in summer 2010, and Yahoo has also been integrating Flickr across its other products, including a forthcoming tie up with Yahoo Mail.

Spiering added that Flickr is changing in line with Yahoo's "mobile first" strategy, and would introduce more new features in phases throughout 2012.

The site is free to use, but a premium paid-for service is available that allows photographers to upload an unlimited amount of photos.

Flickr changed its pricing structure in January so that it now offers a three-month subscription, while the two-year price was cut by $5 in a move presumably to pull in new subscribers.

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