The Statesman Journal seems to think that lots of pictures (with text de-emphasized) is the key to a useful, attractive web page. It's almost like a flickr albums page. It does have a "list" view option, but the list doesn't help a lot. (see last image)
If a picture is worth a thousand words, it is not a great search or summing up tool.
SJ's "list" view of the news page:
4 comments:
That is astoundingly bad. Are they violating child labor laws? Kind of looks as though that might be the case.
I've used SJ as a source for PEBB news and more in depth coverage of Oregon political issues than the Oregonian gives. So, I was shocked and dismayed to find that their web page is so user unfriendly in finding important articles. The funny thing is they think it is "easier to use" "to help you find the stories you are looking for".
You have to be really good at concise text and photos that send a single message to have "larger photos in more places . . . give you a better sense of the story before you click." It's apparent that SJ's photographers and editors are not quite up to that high level.
Of course the O could have avoided all this by employing editors who required news reporting rather than opinion reportage.
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Absolutely right, OG. If the product were good, one would deal even with poorly designed websites.
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