You know you want it..
It actually feels busier to me than before. The whole top section is baffling to me. Why is the boston.com logo in the middle? Why is the Boston Globe logo on the right?
What is the hierarchy of the content? The top right of the content section (the prime real estate on the page) has as it's top 3 items: Q&A with Steve Almond, Miss Conduct and Style Blog links??
Some content sections on the page have sub-navigation (i.e. Cars): really?
Why do the items only in the My Community section have icons?
What is up with the 3 lines of dots as section separators?
What is the deal with only the items at the right side of the main navigation have sub-navigation (in a weird little box)?
The one thing boston.com always keeps consistent is it's complete lack of consistency in the underlying sections:
Today's Globe: Lives as a subsection under the News section and is using the old design
News, Business, Sports, Travel, A&E: Use old design and suddenly has sub-navigation which doesn't appear on home page. Note: this means there is no way from the home page to go directly to the Red Sox only page in the Sports section. Spring training is still 4 months away, they have time to fix that one.
Events: Goes to it's own section with unique design - navigation inexplicably moves to left, not all the options are there and is vertical!. I liked it much better at the top of the page where you could select a date and see events.
Real Estate and Cars: when you go to the section, it maintains the same main nav, but has alot more sub-nav than the home page, and completely different page layout
Jobs: Completely different main nav
Local Search: Inexplicable secondary set of tabs as navigation (and the 3 lines of dots for section separators from the home page)
Note: the main navigation options are in a different order in the new design vs. the old design. Very annoying if you are flipping back and forth between the home page and the other sections.
And would it be SO hard to have the Ideas section found in the Sunday paper as a section online? I LOVE that section, but online those articles are all over the place.
The FAQ states: "Different features and sections of the site are scheduled to debut on different days. While we realize that this might be confusing in the short-term, we’ve studied our options carefully and believe that the gradual switch we have planned will ultimately result in a better user experience." A. Think again. B. We're not idiots. We know this is just easier for your technical staff.
Can't wait for the first day with the glaring blinding orange background add for a certain cell phone provider!
