In my view, BBS.com is a good example of obvious design. The layout of BBC.com is straightforward. It has a clear navigation bar on the top of the site which distinguishes different types of news and help users to get a quick start. The search box lies at the right end of the bar allows users to type in the key word to look for specific news. Under the navigation bar, there is a story board of latest news. It has eye-catching images that can quickly grab users' attention and pull them into the story. When the user scroll down, there are well-organized blocks contain different categories of news like Business, Sport, Health which are in large font and has image to help explain the top story. In this case, if a user doesn't have specific news to look for and is just browsing around, that user can find the interesting story right away. Overall, BBC.com has a clear purpose and it is user friendly which make it a obvious design.
All the different pictures and the tons of text can make it look busy, in my opinion. My favorite layout on a news site is theverge.com. Notice that colored filters overlay the top news stories to give a sense of visual continuity. Also, you don't have to locate any directional arrows to see more news (like you do in BBC). I agree with your points on organization, though!
ReplyDeleteAnd if we're talking about quality of journalism, the BBC blows the verge out of the water!