On your present site – it is easy to navigate to text headlines and sections (Entertainment, Sports, Business, Science, Environment, US News, etc…) – this is basically absent on your new site. Why? Sure the new site is clean…but at the expense of eliminating any easy viewing of top headlines by area of interest. I think CNN does not have the interest in mind of the viewer wanting a basic “online newspaper” with easy navigation to topics of interest. Your present site is fine “as is” – why change it? At least why such a drastic change that requires the viewer to search for news that was previously right in front of the viewer.

Not only have I written an article on the beta design I’ve designed alternatives which you may find interesting. http://www.heavy-backpack.com/archives/articles/cnn-web-redesign-alternative

You are not getting one point.

I have read over the blog comments, and they seem to clearly state that we do not want the video.

For me, if I am at work, I don’t want video to play for a few reasons. First, it is just plain intrusive in the work place. Second, bandwidth; an easy way to get yourselves on the wrong side of the censorware black lists is to use too much bandwidth. Third, sometimes, I click on an article and then come back to it later, or I made read it in pieces(read a bit, do some work, then read a little more).

Some companies will only tolerate their employees being online for so long, especially since they are using company resources to do so. Why draw the wrong type of attention to yourself? That is, if you want to drive a loud, flashy, red sports car past the police at twice the posted speed limit, be prepared when you get pulled over.

I tell you here and I tell you now, I almost never click on video only news, and never at work.

Good news on the improvements. One thing that worries me though that I am seeing is that news that is a few days old makes the front page. Same goes for video. I hope that you aren’t sacrificing content or continuing old to sustain site hits. Simply because a video of some girl dancing in a bikini singing about Obama is watchable, I hope it doesn’t take precedence over new things.

The one thing I would really like is to allow users to listen to CNN radio without navigating to CNN.com and opening a Javascript pop-up.

Numerous media players such as Banshee (on Linux) and iTunes (on Windows and Mac OSX) support adding radio stations to listen to. However, currently, unless I simply cannot find the correct .m3u file necessary, I’m forced to listen inside Firefox, which is quite tasking on the system.

The new layout is definitely a big step in the right direction, but even something as simple as the above would improve usability for a lot of users.

I don’t know about the video not working with earlier versions of Firefox, but I am completely unable to get the video on the Beta site to work with Firefox Version 2.0.0.4 on my Linux systems. Same with Windows and the same version of Firefox. So far, videos on the Beta site only will work with Internet Explorer, which I do not use.

Using the same systems, video on the regular CNN website work just fine.

My main concern about the new design is that you went from a very distinct style that made CNN.com instantly recognisable to one that is rather bland and seen before.

The white spaces are not only wasted space but the byproduct of a layout where elements seem to float around in widget-like fashion. In the previous version there was a certain logic to ther format and positioning of headers, lists, text, images, etc… There was a certain narrative to the scanability of a page, if that makes any sense.

Out of curiosity, are you guys usign exactly the same grey background as the new Times Online (http://www.timesonline.co.uk)?

Well, I hope that you don’t lower the bit rate too much. I really appreciate the high quality of the videos. Perhaps longer buffering periods would help?

I’m also a fan of white space. Every usability study that I’ve ever read backs up the current trend of this site. White space is what makes the site look ‘clean’ and less ‘cluttered.’ Don’t get rid of too much.

I also love that you have included more video links on the website. The size and quality are the best I have seen.

I like some of the new features — embedded Flash video player, content around news topics, recommended news, etc. But I do have some suggestions and complaints:

- This new design, while it may appeal to some audiences, seems to me to be in the wrong direction. It is going more towards Web 1.0 designs and not Web 2.0 or 3.0.

- Where is the user-generated content? CNN should be at the forefront of citizen journalism and iReport is not enough. Why not let your users have more input into stories, let them vote on what they like and have a “most voted for” section on the homepage, similar to how Digg.com and other social bookmarking sites work?

- Why not add social links to your story pages? It makes sense to allow your users to submit your stories to Digg, del.icio.us, Newsvine and other services that will help drive traffic to your site. Clickability: this is the same service that has been used for 10 years. Isn’t it time for an upgrade?

- I, and many of my friends and colleagues have stopped using CNN.com over the past year or two as CNN has changed into a celebrity gossip and tabloid news site. CNN should not be covering worthless news. Here’s a list of top stories on CNN.com right now:

# Ailing woman gets a kidney from her boss Video
# Big gator pulled from house; 20 snakes in attic Video
# Vatican issues 10 Commandments for drivers
# Paris Hilton prosecutor hushed up wife’s crash
# He says zilch, stares, hopes you’ll vote for him Video
# Forget ‘fore’ — Nevada golfer yells ‘fire’

I find this mix offensive and insulting. That’s why I go to more serious news sites, such as WSJ or NYT to get my news.

WOW! that was fast!!! Thanks

Of my gosh! I just clicked on “more topics” and found more than I ever found on the original site. Everything from World, Politics, Entertainment, etc. MOST impressive was the ability to see articles from previous years. I went to 1997 and found articles ranging from the Death of Princess Di to O.J Simpson civil trial. It covers a wide range of topics that have to please everyone. Was this available on the original site? If it was, I never found it. I must say, you could make “more topics” just a little more noticeable? ( since I felt lucky to find it.) But DON”T clutter up the white space!! Much nicer for people that just want the news and nothing but the news. Great video quality.

I love the new design and the white space. it’s a much more “zen” experience. Don’t get discouraged by people saying they prefer the old design. I think you have made a lot of progress. People just hate change. I have never been a fan of CNN.com, I almost never visit you site because the layout drives me crazy. With this new design, I am willing to make your site one of my primary news sources. The more I click around, the more I like it. GREAT JOB!!!

The ‘old’ cnn.com has a clean, professional layout that I personally have always found easy to navigate. It presents a very good representation of news headlines under well throught out topic headings.

I’ve enjoyed cnn.com for years. Consider the layout like a grocery store trip. I know where everything is and while that does not stop me from glancing at the other areas’ headlines, it’s nice to know where to find what I want.

Why change what’s not broken?

My only pet peeve with cnn.com (as well as other news sites I may view) is when a news story is presented with no other option but video. I much prefer to read the information. If I wanted to ‘watch’ the news I’d be turning the television to CNN.

I would say that the video is an enhancement to a story. It should not take the place of a text version of every story on CNN. That’s where some of the stories on CNN have fallen short in the current version. I think that’s also why you’re getting some of the feedback from other people who disagree with video entirely. You are headed in the right direction by pulling all the content together.

I’m not sure I like the navigation that floats the page width instead of static without the entire site floating. I would choose one or the other. Not both.

I know you are probably busy updating the same news for two web sites right now so I am giving the benefit of the doubt on the content.

There is definitely more information on this new CNN website, however it’s a LOT more challenging to navigate.

First- I definitely don’t like all of the additional video. Don’t get rid of news articles- I can’t listen to video while at work, so I almost never click on them.

Second- I like the additional white space; I think it’s cleaner, but one of my favorite attributes of CNN.com is the fact that I can browse my news my subject matter. You still have this feature (sort of) on the beta site, but it’s not nearly as prominent as it could be.

Depending on the viewing resolution, there is a lot of extra horizontal white space that could be used so that vertical scrolling wouldn’t be required as much when reading an article. The content of the page should take up the entire browser window.

A lot of people seem to be complaining about the waste of space in the big gray area on either side of the page. I personally don’t think it’s much of a problem – you need some extra space to accommodate people with smaller screens. However, perhaps an idea to keep everyone happy would be an option to have two differnet page widths, like you can have on MSN.com [click yellow box saying 'page options' at near-top right of screen].

Please ignore the comments people have made saying the new site is a disaster – my opinion is that CNN.com is now the best news site on the web. Well done, and keep up the good work!

Hi,
I like the new site and cannot wait to be able to get CNN Live from the web.

I do have to agree with an earlier comment about being able to get to CNN Radio quicker (like having a link on the front page). Same with video.

One thing that always annoyed me about the video part was while some stories need video to help tell a story, they should also have a related text link to an article, so for those of us who cannot play a video at that time, we could at least read about the story.

Other then that, please keep up the great work.

Dan Uff

The beta is progressing along with the comments. The addition of gray background very much helps the contrast of the overall site. Darkening the font color of the links helps as well.

If you could swap the “More Stories” and “Video” panes with one another, I think the front page would be vastly improved. Get all of the big stories up front and center where people will see them. Also, please consider expanding “More Stories” back to the full list on the production CNN.com site. I’m not a fan of clicking-through the AJAX buttons to get to the other news sections. Having all the stories in front to choose from is a big plus of the main site.

I still think many of the panes are too big — screen real estate-to-content ratio is very low for areas like “Markets”, “Local”, “From our partners”. Whitespace is interesting, but waste of space is not.

One big question — where’s the sports news? Buried down in the “From our partners” section is a lousy place for it. Sports news stories are a big deal to people!

I agree that the page isn’t quickly “scannable”. The current site makes a huge impact on the current/top story and page layout is iconic to CNN. This new site doesn’t look so much as a product of CNN, and more like CNN’s attempt at Web 2.0 without mirroring their image. I only would like to make two requests, as I think you already understand the jist of this “complaint” – PLEASE CHANGE THE LATEST NEWS BULLETS BACK TO BLACK – this doesn’t seem important BUT IT IS. Ok, and also please improve page rendering and loading times. It seems to be substantially behind the current site.

Thanks for your time.

Thanks to at least five of the 21 comments above, I don’t have to explain my point, which is: If you insist on providing video, please at least also provide a plain text version of the story as well!

Thank you thank you thank you.

The new layout looks great, but the grey background make for a really cramped an uncomfortable reading experience. I’ve avoided reading on the beta site for exactly that reason.

Requests:

* More text news, fewer videos. No, I’m not talking about fixing the choppiness. I’m talking about more text news, fewer videos. I can get 10x as much news in 1 minute (and by the way see more of your advertisements) by reading than by waiting for a video to spool through. Of course, there are a few things for which video makes all the difference. Mostly, when I see a video-only link on CNN, I get frustrated and try to find the same story in text form on another outlet.

* More deep news articles, less fluff. It’s getting to where if I want to read what’s really going on in, say, Iraq, I’ve got to go the International Herald Tribune. I don’t mind a few stories on Paris Hilton, but is she really more important than those Sunni sheiks getting blown up? You guys are CNN — if I want entertainment tonight, well that’s fun too, but it’s different.

Thanks!

NM

Yes beta is better. It is more streamlined in appearance. The part that I like the best is more readable news and less video. It would be extra nice if each story was optional. Read it or watch it,if you had the time.
Thanks
Dean

Why don’t you try using the spell check feature once in a while. It’s really embarrassing to see how many typos make their way out to your website.

(1) More in-depth news with easy-to-find headlines and sections

(2) Golf coverage — I am an avid golf fan, and the changes you made some time ago have destroyed what was a very functional site and replaced it with a site that is slow to load and provides less information.

Change out stories more frequently. Some stories stay in your Latest News for days. More variety. More “read” as compared to “video” stories. Videos take awhile to load, then you have to watch really load and annoying ads before you get to the news. Using CNN while at work makes watching the video’s difficult. Reading is quieter. More balanced news. You show bias especially in political stories. I don’t care to hear the writer’s/editors view. I will make up my own mind, just report the facts fast, which is what CNN does best.

Mark wrote:
“we do not want the video”
“For me, if I am at work, I don’t want video to play for a few reasons. First, it is just plain intrusive in the work place.”

Question 1: When you say “We”, we as in who?

Question 2: Why are you on the Internet when you should be doing your job? If I was your boss I would fire your ass for wasting company money.

Seems you’re the one that’s not getting the point.

The new CNN site ROCKS!!

I’m another user who would rather read a story than watch a video. Generally, it’s faster and I get more information from text than from a video – particularly if it’s nothing more than a talking head reading the same text, or a reporter standing outside a building telling us about something going on inside that we can’t even see.

It’s also annoying to have to sit through a commercial before even being able to watch the video. Also, most of the time I can’t get the video to play, or can’t get the audio. It may be some kind of bandwidth limitation, or some firewall problems here at work. (I can’t get a lot of streaming audio stations, either.) Call it conspiracy or paranoia, or maybe they’re just trying to block porn, but video isn’t a good option.

I don’t mind if some stories are presented in video for those who prefer, and I recognize that sometimes the impact of video is striking, but I’m always disappointed when a headline contains nothing but a video link.

Video content is great, but many in your audience CANNOT HEAR. CNN could score a lot of points by not only making text versions available, but captioning its videos as well.

FONT CRITIQUE:

I know sans serif fonts look “modern” and “airy,” but they are so difficult and tiring to read. I WISH you would consider using a serif font in the body of your text.

While revamping PLEASE INCLUDE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR USERS LIKE ME WHO ARE NOT COMPUTER TECHS. I have tried (before you took the site down) to watch video accompanying a story headline without success. I am running Windows XP Professional; internet browser 6; have tried disabling Firewall without it there is still nothing but black screen showing no video or clicking on print without any results.
It would be helpful if you told the users who have been paying for Pipeline and using it successfully what is needed for successfully opening a story to read full story or watch video. I have Shockwave Flash.
Some info for those of us who are not computer techs or IT professional as well as elderly what is required for successful and full use of new site when it comes back online.
AR

LESS video, MORE text. Simple as that.

Nice look..clean..crisp..easy to navigate..good job.

Why not let the user organize the blocks on the page and let them return to their preferred layout.

I am a news junkie. I log on to CNN.com several times a day – at work and at home. I prefer your site over any of the other sites out there. However , since you are soliciting feedback, I would like to offer mine.

I came back from vacation and was dismayed by the changes to CNN.com. I find the new site much harder to navigate. I liked the old format much better. And what happened to EDUCATION? Do you know how many students and teachers read that portion of the news? It directly effects our lives. That sections was one of the main reasons I chose your site.

Also, there’s a reason I choose to read my news – I can do it at my pace and to my interest level, and avoid stupid or violent things I prefer not to watch. If I wanted to watch it, I would be looking at it on TV. I find it very annoying that many of your stories are only offered in video format. I would prefer to read the text instead. Please add a text option to your videos (that are truly news items).

Thanks for your efforts and for asking for feedback!

I too would like to at least have an option to READ the stories rather than watch a video. Some of us either have an old PC where watching video is difficult or we’re at work where watching video is prohibited.

First, thank you for trying. There will be no progress unless changes are tried – some successful, some – not so much.

Which leads us to the redesigned CNN site. Overall, it’s okay – it works. Aesthetically, it’s too monotone. There’s hardly any differentiation between sections. I don’t mean that it should be gaudy with lots of unorganized colors, but, as someone else said, this is sterile.

Someone else (Barbara Kemper-Nolan) noted the loss of the Education section. I totally agree – with the harmful farce that the ‘No Child Left Behind’ program has turned into, that’s not a section that we can afford to loose.

I also agree with many of the comments that want a printed report to accompany the video reports. Many times, I take a break from work for a quick glance at CNN, but I’m not able to view the videos at work, though I am interested in the story.

As far as the videos, I have had no problems viewing them from home. The layout using thumbnails is an improvement, though it reminds me of some other websites. They would be better if they included the date and time. On a topic I’m following (at home), that information helps me know if it’s an updated report, or one I’ve already viewed.

One important loss that I hope you can correct quickly involves the Quick Vote. Please, bring back the bar charts. They tell the story much cleaner than the numbers (which are also important as supporting data). Also, more of the Quick Votes should include some variation of ‘I don’t care’ – that would have been useful on every Paris Hilton question.

I do like the flash picures in the articles. It makes navigating back to the list of reports easier.

Bottom line, you still provide a variety of news, with timely updates; and that’s the real reason I come to this site daily.

Thanks,
Steve Martin

Please put the time back on the home page near the date. I need to frequently hit the refresh button to see if the ‘front page’ has changed since my last reading. Thank you.

CNN.com has, and will continue to be, my home page. It’s the first thing I do in the morning and throughout the day. The new look is definitely a step in the right direction. It’s clean and modern. I also like seeing when stories were update or posted. My only complaint with CNN.com news (lately) – it seems that the top stories have been very tabloidish. I feel like I am looking at TMZ and not CNN. Create a tabloid section, if you NEED to do that and give the top spots to actual news that matters. All in all, I love ya!

I use CNN as my home page at work. For the last week I have been unable to either access the web site or navagate to other sections of the web site. The business portion is importment as I need to monitor the treasury yields.

I know this isn’t a problem on my end as it happens when I try to access your site on my home computer.

Please tell me this is just a monentary glich on your end??!! I’d hate to have to change home pages.