Thoughts on USA Today's Redesign
USAToday.com just went live with its much-anticipated redesign.
First impression: It's clean. Tabbed browsing within the site, lots of nice, white space, easily identifiable interactive elements and ads off to the right nav. I think these are tremendous, positive changes.
Photos are bigger and ... I can't begin to explain how pleased I am to see this ... not reliant on Soundslides. Areas to recommend content, tag and share. Users can create their own content pages and, this I think is silly, an avatar.
You have to log in to use some of the features, which folks so far seem to loathe. Actually, most of the initial comments after the new site launched were very negative:
Switchnow wrote:
Count me among the many who registered only to complain. But note that this will be the last time anyone at USAToday.com hears from me. Because my boycott starts right now. It's clear from this reaction that USA 2.0 is a tragic misfire that didn't take into account the wants or needs of the original site's loyal core audience. However, complaining about the new site is a waste of all our time. The only logical action is to leave it now and leave it completely...See you all at CNN.
acruda wrote:
I think you messed with something that was already good. The most common fatal error in business is to take a good idea and change it. There was no need to worsen the look of your site.
I am gone. Bye Bye.
hszott wrote:
Hi--
USA Today has been my homepage for several years and for several years I have enjoyed the format --until now. Your new format makes it hard to skim for information quickly (now I have to mouseover thumbnails rather than get info at a glance or see rotating news items). It also incorporate too much white space at the top. Ug! I was so disappointed when I checked the site this morning that I am considering switching my homepage to cnn or salon. Your new site sucks. Otherwise, thanks for seven great years.
Heather
But swellman and others congratulate the efforts:
The change is far greater than I would have imagined. But I like the cleaner, easier to navigate experience. And while commenting on stories is not for everybody, i think having this option will make it a more interesting site. Congrats to everyone who worked to make these changes, and most importantly, had the guts to go through with it. (And don't worry to much about those "earth is flat" people.)
I'm wondering why content isn't easier to share. I've been looking for an article toolbar to help me blog stories to my site, to share bookmarks and links, and there doesn't seem to be anything. Also not seeing links within stories, and I'd like to know why the practice of external linking remains so taboo in our industry.
I don't see major leaps or innovation so far with this redesign, but you gotta start somewhere, right? Congrats to Kinsey Wilson and team for evoking change within a big corporate organization, where even small site fixes can lead to large political battles.
PS: A question for my copy desk readers. Shouldn't it read "but more importantly" ???
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