BBC Sport website gets mixed reviews

The BBC today unveiled its new look sports website, which follows the redesign of its homepage in September. 

The new look includes replacing the side with top navigation, wider page layouts, and a new colour scheme, which is great if you like yellow and blue.

As always when the BBC makes any changes to its website, opinion is divided...

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Posted 02 February 2012 11:11am by Graham Charlton with 7 comments

BBC launches new homepage in beta

The BBC has been changing its homepage again, and the new beta version "demonstrates a new ‘visual-first’ approach to showcasing the breadth of our content on the web."

The new page looks good, and represents a significant change from the current version, which was introduced in February 2008

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Posted 21 September 2011 12:36pm by Graham Charlton with 5 comments

New Waitrose website panned by users

Grocery retailer Waitrose launched a new website earlier this month after a £10m revamp, but there has been a flood of negative feedback from customers. In response, the retailer has been forced to issue a statement promising to address some of this issues raised. 

Website redesigns are never going to be universally popular, the recent Gawker redesign is one such example, but the new Waitrose website has provoked much more criticism than most revamps... 

new Waitrose

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Posted 23 March 2011 09:08am by Graham Charlton with 39 comments

The Conran Shop: site review

Luxury retailer The Conran Shop had a website redesign last week, and I've been checking out the new look version. 

The site contains a number of expensive designer products, but is it doing enough to showcase these big ticket items?

Conran12

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Posted 07 September 2010 13:02pm by Graham Charlton with 0 comments

Ryman: site review

Stationery brand Ryman has launched a revamped version of its website this week, with the retailer aiming to make much more of its online presence. 

The website has been completely redesigned, while an improved product management system will be used to manage and control stock across different channels. 

I've been seeing how the new website looks from a user experience perspective...

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Posted 15 July 2010 10:00am by Graham Charlton with 3 comments

Q&A: Rail Europe's Stuart Alldis

Rail Europe recently unveiled a complete redesign of its website, which I reviewed earlier this week. 

I've been speaking to Stuart Alldis, head of e-commerce at Rail Europe, about the new design, how the volcanic ash crisis provided a stern test for the new site, and the challenges of making a relatively complex process simple for the user. 

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Posted 14 May 2010 09:30am by Graham Charlton with 0 comments

Site review: National Rail Enquiries redesign

National Rail Enquiries relaunched its website last month, giving the site a much needed makeover.

The site was redesigned by Fortune Cookie, and at first glance, seems to be a massive improvement on the old version with a fresher, cleaner look. How well does it perform for users though?

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Posted 07 January 2010 09:32am by Graham Charlton with 23 comments

Five things you need to do online in 2010

If sorting out the corporate website is your ambition for 2010, it can be pretty difficult to know where to start and what to prioritise. After all, you’re bound to have a budget to stick to. So where should you start?

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Posted 04 January 2010 12:42pm by Kevin Gibbons with 15 comments

Site review: Auto Trader

Motoring website Auto Trader has recently launched a new version of its site in beta, updating the technology behind the site and introducing a more modern design.

The Auto Trader mobile website was impressive when I reviewed it recently, so I've decided to have a closer look at the new desktop site. It's a pretty big site, so I've confined my review to a used car search...

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Posted 23 October 2009 10:07am by Graham Charlton with 16 comments

The New Statesman vs The Guardian - spot the difference

Spot the difference: The New Statesman and The GuardianRedesigning websites is always a challenge. On the one hand you want to improve things and innovate. But on the other it’s a case of ‘why reinvent the wheel?’.

Why indeed? But even wheels should have their own identity. In some cases the idea of doing what works best isn’t executed with distinction. 

Mirroring usability and functionality is one thing, but copying the look and feel from another website is not particularly big or clever. Especially when that website is one of the world’s larger media sites.

You be the judge...

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Posted 09 October 2009 13:09pm by Chris Lake with 4 comments