Every website evolves over time. However, when a website as large as CNN.com does a major user-interface overhaul, much of that decision is based on historical data and strategic insights.
Recently, CNN.com revamped their site and the new site shows a few interesting trends:
1. Double-lead:
CNN has always displayed a major story on it’s homepage. However, the new site now displays two major stories — one in the left column and one in the center column.
2. Newspulse:
Although still in beta, Newspulse is the new name for ‘Most Popular.’ This particular feature has been given more prominence and is also the 3rd tab in the top navigation. It’s interesting to note that the top-stories on Newspulse do not influence the lead stories.
3. Interactivity:
CNN has been quite innovative in using social networks. It continues to use Facebook for major stories and also has the world’s first Twitter based show.
4. Video:
If there’s proof that video is growing in dominance, one should look no further than CNN.com. Earlier, users had to click on a video tab to view corresponding clips from a particular story. Now, videos are fully integrated into articles.
For CNN, this is a major enhancement and it’ll be interesting to see how it evolves over time.
