Wednesday, February 17 12:00 AM ET

Facebook Plans on Accelerating Site Redesign Cycle

By Brian Briggs follow me on Twitter.

Palo Alto, CA - Facebook announced that they would be accelerating its already rapid redesign cycle.

Feeling the heat from new competitors like Google Buzz and old ones like Twitter, Facebook VP of Web Design Bob Hartmann said the site would be undergoing significant changes every other week next month and even faster in the future.

"We can't stand still," said Hartmann. "Facebook users expect change. If they don't get it, they'll jump ship and start try out other sites."

Hartman said that changes would be as minor as switching the order of the "comment" and "like" links in the News Feed to radical changes like replacing everyone's profile photo with the image of David Duchovny as Fox Mulder in The X-Files.

"An internal survey we ran of users showed that 65% enjoy the challenge of figuring out where notifications went to, and 78% think you should have to work hard if you want to sign out," said Hartmann.

Hartmann said Facebook wasn't alone in frequent site redesign. "Look at Google.com, heck they redesign their home page every holiday or minor event, and that doesn't seem to confuse users," he said.

Facebook users unhappy with the rapid pace of change on the site can "have fun on MySpace" according to Hartmann.

Some users have an idea where all this is headed. "I think they're following Moore's Law of site redesign," said Facebook user Terrance Shipley. "I think eventually the site will be redesigned before it even finishes loading."

According to job postings on the Facebook corporate site, the company will be hiring more Web designers with "fresh ideas" and a "knowledge of M. C. Escher and Salvador Dali." New designers must also be able to withstand "demanding hours" and "ridiculous implementation schedules."

Facebook is a privately held company located in Palo Alto, California.