The new BBC News website layout, then. I’ll let Edward Woodward sum it up…
File this one under ‘gross miscalculation’ for the Beeb. Before, BBC News was sturdily designed with practically flawless usability. Why they felt the need to shake things up is beyond me, and this is coming from someone who changes their website more than their underwear.
The flaws in the layout are blatant. For example:
1. Given their need to report on celebrities with no presence in the UK like Jay Leno, Oprah Winfrey, and Donald Trump, it’s hardly surprising their design wants to emulate an American tabloid. Large text! Sections of the site piled on top of each other! No central focus! With the amount of scrolling required, it’s as if the BBC has a vendetta against touch pads and wheel mouses, and this is their way of wearing them out.
2. Why is the option to retweet and share on Facebook at the top of the page? Granted, they’re at the bottom too, but who thinks “I might like this JLS PR stunt disguised as a piece about economics, I better clog up my friend’s news feed now in case I forget at the end”? The BBC isn’t the first to do this, but it still doesn’t make sense.
3. The white space between the news item and sidebar. Why were the designers compelled to pull the content apart by over 150 pixels? Apparently, it isn’t so the BBC can shove adverts in the international version as I first thought. So what is it? Are people thick enough that they need the occasional picture and quote to be clearly identifiable? Is it so iPad users have a designated spot to rest their bourbon biscuits on the screen?
I mean, that space is huge. Look what you can fit in there:
Things that fit into space: the Eiffel Tower, Sebastian Vettel’s head, a good quality truck photo… But not James Corden. He’s too wide.
So because of an executive wanting to freshen up their portfolio before applying for the position of ‘God of Television’ at Channel 5 or something, BBC News looks as though it’s been twinned with Fox News. This just in: all liberals are working with Hitler to destroy America.
