Any thoughts on the economist.com redesign?
13 May 2008 - 2:59pm
6 replies
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vlad
2008
Hi!
I'm sure there are few people aware of the recent redesign of
www.economist.com
Otherwise, someone would have drawn attention to it.
I mean...it looks quite messy to me.Given their prestige.
Any thoughts?
PS. The topic has spawn a very heated discussion over at
http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?source=hptextfeature&story_id=11355660&mode=comment&intent=readBottom
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nothing special or innovative.
Too many boxes of different sizes & alignments, and no sign of a good
grid to bring them all together. It does indeed look not so pleasing.
-- Alex
On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 8:59 PM, vlad <vlad.fratila at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I'm sure there are few people aware of the recent redesign of
> www.economist.com
> Otherwise, someone would have drawn attention to it.
> I mean...it looks quite messy to me.Given their prestige.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> PS. The topic has spawn a very heated discussion over at
> http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?source=hptextfeature&story_id=11355660&mode=comment&intent=readBottom
>
>
> --
> http://nomorestories.com/
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In these days of participatory content and CSS-driven design, I wonder
why it's "the" redesign and not "a" design, one among many from which
the *reader* chooses?
In other words, why not make more sites Zen Garden sites?
Victor
On Tue, May 13, 2008 at 3:59 PM, vlad <vlad.fratila at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I'm sure there are few people aware of the recent redesign of
> www.economist.com
> Otherwise, someone would have drawn attention to it.
> I mean...it looks quite messy to me.Given their prestige.
I wonder if the folks at the Economist put the new design in front of
users. Glancing at the Front Door:
1. The Header- looks crowded, does search have to be truncated to fit
the login and the subscription promo? Most mordern websites use in
page log in patterns saving space. Does the search need to be so
prominent, most news readers scan and don't search. Maybe the header
could contain the main navigation which utilize space more efficiently
than a left navigation.
2. "Most" engagement module on the left - it looks like a mistake
when it is condensed. Users most likely will ignore it if it is
ilegible
3. Information Design - The placement of features and stories are all
over the place which makes quick scanning hard for users. The
scrollable module in the middle requires users to do much work by
scrolling. They could have exposed more
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=29024
As always, I think it's easier for us standing by the sideline to
criticize. :).
I will let someone else carries the 'minus' torch. I would like to
point out a couple of plus points instead.
- Top bar
Contrary to what Peter said, I actually like their top bar. The logo
is simple and being one of the heavy users of the site, having the
login and search side by side in a premium estate removes the need to
hunt each of them down.
- Typography
Consistent, good default size.
- Article page
Good separation between article content and everything else. No
zig-zag multiple ads in the middle.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=29024
On Wed, May 14, 2008 at 9:36 PM, Alvin Woon <alvinwoon at gmail.com> wrote:
> As always, I think it's easier for us standing by the sideline to
> criticize. :).
>
Indeed! That said, the old design was quite ambituous and a bit more
interesting I think. Certainly, a lot more colorful.
In fact, I used it to illustrate the CRAP guidelines (consistency,
repetition, proximity, and alignment) with my visual simulator. Here's a pic
of the old design:
http://flickr.com/photos/andyed/2493082595/in/set-72157604740561619/
It was quite colorful and highly optimized for scanning. I also admired the
way they broke the visual grid/alignment in the old design with the banner
ad below the header, called out at
http://flickr.com/photos/andyed/2493902508/in/set-72157604740561619/
I'd have to guess the new top placement will decrease the effectiveness of
the banner, but my hunch is their bounce rate will decrease solidly.
Always fun to armchair UX... -Andy