Over the years, I’ve become quite a heavy Gawker user. On a daily basis I surf several of their blogs, including Gawker, Kotaku, Gizmodo, Lifehacker, and io9. Gawker always stood out to me for their variety of niche topics from the latest gaming news and rumors on Kotaku to random science-sci-fi stories on io9. Yet, the recent redesign of the Gawker network has got me mad enough to consciously avoid their sites. What’s wrong with the redesign and why am I so mad? To put it simply, the redesign seems (to me) more (if not all) about advertising and not about the user experience.
Despite its roots as a blog, Gawker has effectively moved away from the blog format. Originally, stories were listed down the page, with users to scrolling through, reading snippets of each article and clicking through to the story that they like. Now, the new design breaks the page to two panes, with their top stories on the left, and a general listing of their full lineup on the right. While the “blog view” option is available, the two pane system makes scrolling and browsing through stories much more difficult than it was previously. The design itself innately feels like something optimized for a tablet, though most of its traffic is through the desktop browser. Perhaps it is just a matter of adjusting, but in the days since the redesign, the overall usability and user experience has been rather horrendous.
Confused between the ad and actual article?
One of the most glaring changes to the site, however, is revamping of advertisements on the site. With the two pane system, the large 300×250 rectangle ad on the right pane stays on screen unless that right pane is scrolled upon. With the large size of the left pane, a new massive rectangle unit is rotated anywhere from the very top of the page to the bottom (after scrolling through). Particularly frustrating is the embedded 160×600 skyscraper and that giant rectangle that fits so firmly within each article it either becomes an eyesore or gets confused for the various pictures or videos that may go along with the article. I can only wonder how many accidental clicks may occur with these new ads.
The ad is nearly as large as the blog post!
Sure, I understand Gawker is a business and their primary source of revenue is advertising. Selling out shouldn’t be that big of a surprise. Still, there are ways of accomplishing this without turning against one’s own users. Whether it means an option opt-in or more testing in their redesign process, Gawker needs to re-evaluate their desire to earn a quick buck over losing their core audience. The numbers have been pretty clear. Since the days of the redesign, Gawker traffic (unique visitors) has dropped from a high of 561,000 to 257,000. As TechCrunch has pointed out, Gizmodo appears to be in freefall with a even greater downward slope. Angry fans have taken up to Twitter as well, lampooning Gawker’s redesign. One can only wonder if Gawker boss Nick Denton will truly win that bet (yes, he made a bet) on the redesign. [Business Insider]
Gawker traffic takes a huge hit. Source: Quantcast
I was annoyed enough when Gawker decided to redirect articles within the Gawker network (io9 articles on Gizmodo, Gizmodo articles on Kotaku, Lifehacker articles on Gizmodo, etc.) but the redesign has pushed me over the edge. Until Gawker realizes that their bread and butter, their users should come first (or at least be considered), I’ll do the only thing I can do, avoid Gawker altogether. I still have them listed in RSS feeds but as a whole I realized that by simply shifting the order of my bookmarks, I’ve drastically changed my viewing habits, moving towards Engadget, Joystiq, Destructoid, and the Consumerist over Gawker.
Is it weird that I’m that worked up over some blogs? Perhaps. Still, as with any blog, site, or news outlet, is it not about the readers?
And consider the the banners flash in Flash...
