I’m a news junkie. Perhaps this goes back to my PR days, when my role required being immersed in all-things-current. Or maybe it’s just my natural curiosity or fear of missing out. For whatever reason, I’m compelled to scan major news sites more than a dozen times a day, and up until recently, my go-to sources were CNN.com and NBC’s global news platform, NBCnews.com. I liked the sites’ formats, I customized the homepages and could get in and out of both in under five minutes with all the local, national and global news updates I cared to consume.
Recently however, NBCNews.com changed its homepage. Maybe I missed the big announcement, but this took me totally by surprise. One day, I was happily gobbling up news content from all over the globe, and the next, all I saw were U.S. news and Olympic photos, with seemingly no rhyme or reason as to how the homepage was structured.
This experience provided several great reminders for me – as a homepage owner, a content producer and an internal communications consultant:
1) If you’re going to change, let your audience know, and give them time to adjust. Whether it’s a change in company benefits or a change in your newsletter look and feel, loyal audiences need time to adjust. Give them some history, share rationale for the change, and if possible, give them a preview or transition time before going full throttle. Those who embrace change will feel more loyal for being part of the process. And, by being transparent, you’ll have less of a chance of alienating those who are more resistant to change.
2) Don’t sacrifice substance for design. Engaging design is important, but more important is how effectively folks get your messages. NBCnews.com’s new visual format, while engaging, leaves me confused and searching for the news I desperately want to consume. (When did they launch an “elections” section? And are all elections covered there, or, judging, by the photo, just U.S. elections?) Visually engaging design is critical for communications, but be careful you don’t sacrifice your messages or navigation for the sake of a “cutting-edge” look.
3) Don’t forget why your audience seeks you out. Your audience spends a piece of their precious day with your channel or medium by choice, and every day, you’re competing for their mindshare and eyeballs. Before embarking on a new design, make sure you understand why folks seek you out. Then, test your design to be sure it still delivers on that promise. For example: I go to NBCnews.com for news and entertainment. I love snowboarding, so this story caught my eye with its grabby headline, catchy lede and fun visual. I was sold! I clicked on the story, and… Where is the story?? NBC wasted my time and forced me to watch a commercial, but gave me no information in return. (Sorry for doing the same to you, but you get my point!) No news. No entertainment. Big fail. I’m going elsewhere.
I applaud NBCnews.com for taking a more visual approach to news. But if its most devoted and loyal audience members can’t easily find the big, global news on a global news site, the cool factor is moot. Call me less intuitive or less progressive, but until I can make better sense of the format, CNN will now be my single, regular stop for news, simply by default. And maybe I’ll start checking out BBC.com more frequently. I’ll swing by NBCnews.com, but not religiously, and certainly not to get my daily quick fix.
Don’t let this happen to you. If you’re a communicator, give your audience plenty of time to embrace change, be sure any new design or format is clear and easily navigated, and continue to deliver what your loyal fans expect you to deliver, and you’ll seal your spot in their go-to lineup.
