So, since my CNN.com re-do post, there’s been lots of feedback from readers expressing their utter dislike for the redesigned site. Not having thoroughly dug thru the site, I haven’t been able to offer a strong opinion either way. I can certainly appreciate the discomfort someone may feel when landing at an unfamiliar destination. We’re creatures of habit, who develop expectations driven by mental-models. The former CNN.com conditioned ours expectations for the experience, and now in an attempt to improve site usability, CNN has pissed-off some site visitors.
Will these agitated users in need of their daily dose of news ever warm up to the new look and feel?? Perhaps, they need a comparison of the past and present to sway their thinking.
In a recent post by Louis Lazaris, a writer for Web Designer Depot, he presents a fairly in-depth site evaluation of the new CNN.com. Lazaris’s findings offer that although there’s still room to grow, the new design is quite an improvement over the previous version. In addition to customized content and new content partners, Lazaris highlights the site header, use of space, and revamped category/article pages, as notable improvements. On the flip side, the post suggests that areas of information overload and the usage of small typography could lead to usability issues. Overall, Lazaris writes, “I think web designers and those interested in improving usability on their own sites would do well to consider and try to learn from some of the changes presented on CNN’s new website.”
Although, Lazaris presents subjective thinking, his case for an improved site is strengthened by his comparison against the old. A site redesign is always at risk to draw criticism, but hopefully as our (myself included) number of visits to the new CNN.com continue, and we reshape our mental models, we can begin to appreciate some of the alterations CNN has made to feed our craving for the sensational.
