CNN redesign: B+ grade

On first look, I see what I don't like, of course. The massive red bar hits the visitor in the face. The column layout with photo next to screen capture next to advertisement feels heavy. There is little breathing room between the three columns.

What is working, though, is the way my eye moves around the site. After being hit by the red bar on top of the page, my eye goes straight to the "Click to play" message in the video column. I'm sure CNN would be glad to hear that, since they are putting a new focus on video ("CNN.com relaunch to focus on video," Guardian).

I can get over the fact that the three columns are so close together because if I were coming to visit the site, I would know which column I want to look at. I love how the boxes are not connected anymore. They have some dimension to them, like they are raised from the light gray. Is that a drop shadow behind them? It's working, whatever it is.

It's definitely easier to find what you're looking for now. Top stories from different sections are in their own div boxes at the bottom of the homepage. I just wish the Hot Topics were near the top of the page, though. It's always interesting to see if the stories you are interested in are the ones the rest of America is looking at, and I don't like having to scroll all the way down to see those.

Overall, I give CNN a B+, because while everything else is working, the red bar at the top is just too dominating when you land on the page. And I would love to see some more breathing room between divisions.