The Verge Fixed Its Website Based on What Readers Actually Complained About

The Verge, a popular technology news site, made several improvements to its homepage on May 6 after listening to complaints from readers. The team brought back the scrollbar (a visual line that shows where you are on the page), added buttons to see more stories, and said they're working on a dark mode option for readers who prefer a darker screen.

The most basic fix was addressing the scrollbar issue. Readers had reported that they couldn't easily tell where they were while scrolling through stories. The team also added "Read More" links so readers could dig deeper into story categories without having to leave the main page. These were straightforward responses to feedback readers had sent directly to the site.

How The Verge Decides What Stories to Show

The Verge made an intentional choice to stop showing the dates on some of its curated story groups. This allows older articles to be shown alongside new ones, rather than just pushing the newest stories to the top all the time. Most websites prioritize recency — showing you the freshest content first — but this can mean good older pieces get buried.

The site also removed two older sections from the homepage: one that highlighted free-to-read articles and another that showed special content for paid subscribers. Cleaning up the homepage layout may also signal that the site is thinking about how it handles subscriptions differently going forward.

What's Coming Next

The Verge confirmed that teams are actively building a dark mode (a darker color scheme for the website) and exploring ways to give each reader a more personalized homepage. Right now, everyone sees roughly the same curated selection of stories. Personalization would mean the site uses patterns in what you read to suggest stories tailored to your interests.

The site also set up a formal research program, inviting readers to participate in user testing and surveys. This is more structured than the old approach of just listening to complaints. Interested readers can sign up through the feedback channel at product@theverge.com.

The Redesign That Started It All

These updates build on a bigger redesign the site launched in September 2022. That overhaul introduced a new layout called "Storystream," added short-form posts, and completely changed how the homepage looked. Instead of a traditional reverse-chronological feed (like a social media timeline), the new design organized stories into curated groups chosen by editors.

The 2022 launch made The Verge's homepage one of Vox Media's busiest pages. The site also started embedding content directly from TikTok, Reddit, and other platforms into its news feed, reflecting a trend across the web toward bringing different platforms together in one place.

Why This Pattern Matters

When a major website redesign launches, it almost never feels perfect on day one. Early users run into problems that the design team didn't anticipate — things that only show up when thousands of real people start using the site in different ways. Iterating based on that feedback is standard practice across the web now. I've watched this happen repeatedly over the past three decades, from the early days when news sites like Wired first moved online and went through multiple redesigns as they learned how to build for the web rather than print.

The Bigger Picture: How Publishers Are Changing

Over the past few years, major news sites have borrowed ideas from software companies. Instead of redesigning once every few years, they now treat their websites like living products that constantly get small improvements. Formal user research, systematic feedback loops, and published roadmaps — these used to be exclusive to tech companies building apps. Now media companies use them too.

The Verge's move toward personalization raises an important question that other publications will likely be watching closely. Can a news site use algorithms to recommend stories while still maintaining editorial integrity? Right now, human editors decide what appears on The Verge's homepage. Personalization could change that balance between what algorithms recommend and what editors choose. This experiment will tell us something about the future of how we discover news online.