Sleek and Informative

Cnn.com is the homepage I have set on my laptop. When I opened it up this weekend I was at first startled and then amused we had replicated the old web site design only a couple weeks ago. The red header was the first thing that jumped out at me. At first I thought it was too bold, but then as I glanced down the page I realized the redesign as a whole was pretty well done.

The website is much more effective now (although it wasn't exactly bad before) that they have streamlined all of the important information. The three columns showcase a lot of the same information that you had to scroll and click around for before. Now the most important information is where it needs to be, allowing the viewer to get to what they want with hardly a click of the mouse.

I like that their Highlights and Editors Choice section include a mix of different types of news and that these sections are easily accessible to the viewer. In the past I clicked around the different sections of CNN and enjoyed all of them. As a user of people.com and Entertainment Weekly, I was aware that CNN had a partnership with them. Highlighting this partnership in a better way works for CNN and People/EW and is a smart business move.

I used to be one of those people that felt news was news and everything else was separate. However, the way things have changed with both technology and culture, its clear that people want different kinds of information presented to them in multiple formats all at once. Incorporating different facets of new media is necessary for news agencies today and I think CNN has taken a great step in doing so.

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.