- Instagram is testing a new interface that centers Reels and DMs at the core of the app experience.
- The redesign moves the Create button to the top-left corner and introduces horizontal tab navigation.
- CEO Adam Mosseri says the change reflects what users engage with most — video and direct communication.
- The experiment is opt-in and limited to select regions, including India and South Korea.
- The shift underscores Instagram’s ongoing pivot from photo sharing to short-form video and private interactions.
Instagram’s latest UI test prioritizes video and messaging, signaling a deeper shift toward entertainment and conversation over posting.
Instagram is once again reshaping its identity. The platform’s latest test introduces a Reels-first design that reorganizes the app around short-form video and private messaging — two behaviors now driving the majority of engagement on the platform.
Announced by Adam Mosseri, the experimental interface replaces the long-standing “Create” button in the center of the navigation bar with a Direct Messages (DMs) icon. The Reels tab moves up next to Home, and the navigation now allows users to swipe horizontally between tabs for faster access.
According to Mosseri on Threads, the design is not arbitrary.
“We’re organizing the app around what people use the app for most, which has increasingly been Reels and DMs,” he explained in a post on Threads. “I know these types of changes can take time to get used to, so we’re giving people the option to try this early before we roll it out.”
While the update is currently limited to an opt-in group of users, it represents a clear statement of intent: Instagram’s future is being built around how users behave today, not how they used to.
What’s Changing in the New Layout
The redesigned interface reflects Instagram’s growing emphasis on video discovery and private sharing. The “Home” feed now sits on the far left of the bottom bar, followed by “Reels,” while DMs occupy the central position — the most visible and easily accessible spot. The “Search” icon shifts rightward, and the profile tab remains at the far end.
The “Create” button — once a defining element of Instagram’s bottom navigation — now lives in the top-left corner, symbolically demoting public posting in favor of interaction and consumption.
A new horizontal swipe gesture replaces previous edge swipes, allowing users to move fluidly between all tabs. This change simplifies navigation while reinforcing Instagram’s vision of a more integrated, video-centric ecosystem.
Meta confirmed that the test is part of a broader effort to “make Instagram feel more intuitive and aligned with what users do most.”
The Strategic Logic Behind a Reels-First Instagram
Instagram’s latest UI experiment is data-driven. According to internal metrics cited by Mosseri and Meta’s Q3 2025 earnings report, Reels now account for roughly 50% of all time spent on the platform, and video watch time continues to climb.
At the same time, direct messaging has become the dominant mode of sharing content. Users are no longer broadcasting to their full follower lists; they’re curating private micro-networks through DMs and Close Friends lists.
This dual trend — video consumption and private connection — explains Instagram’s design priorities. The new layout reflects not just a cosmetic shift but a strategic pivot toward user retention and deeper engagement.
By foregrounding Reels, Instagram strengthens its competitive positioning against TikTok, while promoting DMs as a behavioral anchor helps sustain loyalty in an increasingly fragmented social ecosystem.
“Reels and DMs have driven most of our growth at Instagram over the last few years,” Mosseri said. “We’re exploring making them the first two tabs.”
The experiment also signals Meta’s broader evolution. As the company redefines its family of apps around entertainment, messaging, and AI-driven recommendations, Instagram’s navigation becomes a microcosm of that philosophy: lean, dynamic, and centered on habit rather than hierarchy.
Testing Markets and Early Implementation
The redesign is currently being tested in India and South Korea, two of Instagram’s largest and fastest-growing video markets. In these regions, the app opens directly to the Reels feed, with Stories positioned above and a dedicated “Following” tab for viewing posts from known accounts.
The move comes shortly after Instagram crossed 3 billion monthly active users, with Meta attributing much of that growth to Reels and algorithmic content recommendations. The test builds on the recently released iPad app, which already opens by default to Reels — another sign that short-form video is becoming Instagram’s visual starting point.
The company has not yet announced a timeline for global rollout, but indicated that feedback from test markets will determine future iterations of the interface.
A Platform Redefined by Its Users
Instagram’s latest interface test is more than a design tweak — it’s a mirror. By moving Reels and DMs to the forefront, the app is aligning itself with user behavior rather than nostalgia for its photo-sharing roots.
While the test may unsettle long-time users who prefer the old aesthetic, it’s also an acknowledgment that social media itself has changed. Discovery now happens in algorithms, connection happens in DMs, and attention — the currency of the modern internet — flows through short-form video.
Instagram isn’t just rearranging icons. It’s reorienting around what people actually do — and in doing so, defining what the next decade of digital interaction might look like.
