BBC News Radar - a river of news

I like the 'river of news' idea of the News Radar (see current beta version), where news junkies can get their fix in real-time of the latest news. check boxes to select certain areas to follow might be a good idea, but then if you want a specific subject, you would go to that section anyway.

The original publication time and last update time are good features - this information should appear in this way on the actual story page itself.

On the design/layout: page width is far too wide (which I assume would have a sidebar in a finished release) which is partly why the feint grey section text appears visually adrift of the headline/abstract.

Almost there - work project: Posh Pages

So after getting a little pertinent and constructive feedback from one user, and having a good secondary look at the first beta layout, I've tweaked PeterboroughToday.co.uk's Posh landing page layout.

• Tightened up the Posh content header vertically and shrunk heading graphic as it's already under a template header and navigation structure.
• Simplified the navigation options, took out extraneous copy on the header to encourage users to dive straight into page content.
• Re-organised the content layout on the landing page to give a quick snapshot of latest Posh events whilst keeping as much 'above the fold' as possible, but without overloading the eye - a tough balancing act with only 815pixels in width.
• Shortened visible league table so as to draw user into full table which has sortable columns via jquery, plus an extra page view!
• Added club information box, an obvious initial oversight.
• Highlighted RSS feed/email alerts using Feedburner.
• Hoping to bring in CoverItLive element in the future.
  

Above or beyond the fold

For years the mysterious ways of allowing for the fold in web design gnawed away at me. Should this element be so low down? Should that list be above the fold? Where exactly is the fold for different users and browsers?

I try not to worry about where the fold will fall, and what might lurk beneath too much, as common practice, in recent newspaper website design in particular shows there's plenty of room below the fold for content.

Common design sense still dictates as long as the vital page components are clearly visible near the top of the view port, you should have some control of your visitors attention.

Milissa Tarquini writing for Boxes and Arrows states:
Branding must be above the fold. Navigation must be above the fold – or at least the beginning of the list of navigational choices. (If the list is well organized and displayed appropriately, scanning the list should help bring users down the page.) Big content (the primary content of the site) should begin above the fold.

Indeed as Milissa points out:

Because people think users don’t scroll. Jakob Nielsen wrote about the growing acceptance and understanding of scrolling in 19972, yet 10 years later we are still hearing that users don’t scroll.

Successful newspapers online, the quest continues

Online newspapers are gradually finding their way to more successful times, as publishers unveil redesigns across the globe tap into best practices for design and usability, and the key areas of multimedia and interaction with the audience.

Here are some choice quotes that show the last remaining barriers to success for newspapers online ventures: Friday’s Five: Top Misconceptions by Newspapers Online by Erin Teeling at bivingsreport.com:

"Largely, the web is an untapped resource for newspapers."

Littering a homepage with buttons and links distracts people's eyes and prevent them from focusing on anything. Newspapers are better off leading with a couple of big headlines and pictures, letting a strong navigation do the rest of the work."


Unless you really have something superior to offer, registration barriers are only going to hurt your traffic."


Newspapers can compete in online classifieds. But to do so, they need to revamp their systems for creating ads and make them much more user- and web-friendly."

- I would say that the classified market is a real tough one, where combining the print and online products in an efficient and effective way for the mass audience is the golden ticket.

"Barriers to entry to the online world–costs and technical requirements–are dropping everyday. The Web is getting easier and cheaper as we speak."

- As for the technical side of putting together websites, true there are countless tools online, many free, that can aid and enhance a new newspaper website. But for an existing site, with much aged backend coding and elderly databases, the path to web 2.0 is a long, time consuming and potentially expensive one.