January 5, 2005
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An Open Letter to NYTimes.com
Dear NYTimes.com,
I just read an article by Jesse Oxfeld and it said you’re getting ready to redesign your site:
The New York Times on the Web, for example, is about to embark on a site-wide redesign, driven partially by the new ways people reach online news.
The last time you redesigned your site, I was in college. In fact, I was basically majoring in NYTimes.com. Seriously, you know that sudden five percent increase in site traffic in 1999? That was all me.
I remember: When the new look came online, I was so indignant that I actually fired off a harsh e-mail — something to the effect of, “But you have destroyed everything that made NYTimes.com special!!”
However, I was of course totally wrong. The new site was way better and I grew to love it within weeks.
And when I worked on the Poynter.org site redesign a few years later, I realized a) how hard it is to redesign a site, and b) how much it sucks when people slam you for it.
So I just wanted to let you know that I won’t complain this time, no matter what.
Your fan,
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Comments
Oh my god . . . ME TOO! I vividly remember the NYTimes.com redesign. Hated it. Sent the complaining e-mail. Then began to appreciate it. I guess now that we have some advance warning, the new redesign will be less traumatic. The last one was so . . . sudden!
Long article on the NYT's future. Lots of stuff re: the website near the end.
I remember that moment vividly. I was sitting next to you in a campus computer lab.
Where were the cool headline font images that showed THE MOST IMPORTANT NEWS ITEMS? Pure apostasy.
I'm fairly certain you drowned your sorrows in a slurpee, thinking about revolution in Yugoslavia.
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I will note, though, that I think my reading of the physical NYT plummeted once I adapted to the truly superior online redesign. I don't know if that was the intended consequence.
The new "redesign" includes the removal of the ability to email articles to people. Still like it?
Wait... you can still e-mail articles.
I would have been surprised if the NYT had actually removed that function. They've done a better job w/ the 'Most E-mailed' list than anybody else -- it's like a fun, second front page.