Being the huge geek that I am, I’ve been around for (and noticed) several significant corporate site refreshes that really blew my mind. Sometimes they have been for the better, other times significantly for the worse, and occasionally just a blip that doesn’t even register on the average visitor’s radar.
Being the owner of a blog and a couple other side projects, I’m constantly toying with the idea of refreshing the design and structure, sometimes at the expense of the content. As it has turned out, this is also my job (well, not the content part). Playboy was in the midst of a complete overhaul during my time there, and it should come as no surprise that progressive properties such as HGTV.com and FoodNetwork.com are constantly looking forward. ‘Nuff said. It should be noted that while I haven’t signed any kind of NDA and wasn’t explicitly told not to blog about the job, I will NOT BE discussing my work at Scripps Networks other than announcing public launches. I hate to disappoint, but I also don’t want to get myself into any sticky situations. I’m sure you understand.
I didn’t commit the chronological order of happenings to memory, so I now present my top 3 favorite refreshes in no particular order:
First out the chute is The New York Times. Under the incredibly skilled guidance of Khoi Vinh, NYTimes went from a relic of the past to a relevant and attractive online experience. They dropped the pay-to-read scheme, and *most* of their tables while retaining that classic newspaper feel. If there is any measure of their aesthetic achievement, it is how prominent they are pushed when Apple demonstrates their iPhone’s mobile browser capabilities by loading the nytimes homepage. Compare this to newspapers like USAToday which recently refreshed but is overwhelmingly chaotic, and WSJ which feels like 1999 all over again. You’d think if anyone could go spartan and clean it would be WSJ. For those interested in the world of newspaper design, be sure to check out News Designer, a blog that catalogues changes in the print world. For something really beautiful, check out their coverage of the “Hartford Courant.”
Next up is CNN. This was an instance of a “seamless” transition if I ever saw one. People went to sleep on a Sunday night and woke up to a new CNN that just felt “cleaner.” The goal here, which is not the case with all if even most sites, was to make the site blend into the background while pushing content and retaining a sense of structure. It is a pleasure to visit their properties, and I find other sites drawing influence from their refresh constantly. I am also proud to say that I currently work with one of the main architects of the CNN redesign. Compare CNN to Fox News (BLEH!). Honorable mention goes to the Beeb because while their homepage remains a bit cluttered, some of their sub-sections have improved substantially. Every little bit counts, chaps.
And what would a post from eli be without a little tip of the hat to my favorite tech company. Yep, you guessed it. First place goes to Apple Inc who not only proved that you can have awesome functionality and looks but also beautiful markup. For years, Apple stayed true to the pinstripes of their old 10.2 aqua UI, and kept the overall width painfully narrow. On 6/11, just after the Stevenote, Apple proved that they still cared about the internet (something we had started to doubt with the sagging .mac properties). For any developers who haven’t previously done so, run a “view source” on one of their pages and prepare to fall in love.
This list isn’t the end-all by any means. I considered including the 4 MAJOR redesigns that have taken place on Digg or even the perpetually sophomoric CH.com, but they didn’t have the reach and impact of the above sites.
Do you remember a site refresh that blew your mind and I missed? Tell me about it in a comment below.
I probably should have done screen shots, huh?
lazy.