Comments on: All That Glitters is Not Gold – Web Design and the Citizen Journalism Era

By: Kent

Kent — Sat, 05 May 2007 03:15:00 +0000

Adam, Thanks for quoting me and for the link. You wrote a great post! Here is the link to Adam’s post:http://www.zenscope.com/blog/31/abcnews-redesign-mistakes

By: Adam Messinger

Adam Messinger — Sat, 05 May 2007 02:56:00 +0000

I found this a few days ago, while I was researching my own post about the redesign. I’m surprised that this is getting so little coverage on the Web design blogs I sometimes read.Perhaps the authors of those blogs think the badness of this redesign is so self-evident that no explanation is required, but I’m not so sure. I guarantee that there are stakeholders of other sites already looking to ABCNews.com for some kind of guidance. [shudder]As for the site itself, all signs seem to point toward micromanagement by TV executives and the marketing department. There’s just so much fundamentally wrong with it that it’s kind of mind-blowing.I quoted your “37 pieces of flair” remark in my write-up of this train wreck (with a link back to your post, naturally). If that’s not okay with you, just let me know and I can take remove your quote from the article.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 04:09:00 +0000

Often, it isn’t the designer that is the problem. Being a full-time web developer, I can tell you that most of us prefer clean, organized designs and understand the usability standards of the average user.However, when a client (or boss, I’m guessing, in the case of channel 13) wants something, you can either do it or pass on the work. I don’t often tell a client they can’t have something. When I do, it usually involves outdated technology or silly things (midi background music and hit counters STILL get requested believe it or not).One of the problems sites like channel 13 face is the fact that they need to display a LOT of content mixed with advertising. It’s complicated to squeeze all of it in and still make it look good AND be easy to use, which is the reason it is more common for a news site to be difficult to navigate than easy.

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:17:00 +0000

I switched from ESPN to Yahoo Sports because ESPN is just out of control with all the junk they put on the main page. Recently, though, Yahoo seems to be heading that direction, too.I also use Reddit instead of any of the others because it loads so much quicker. It will be interesting to see how cluttered they end up now that they are starting to do advertising there.