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best and worst Web sites



For my best and worst Web sites, I'm offering a comparison in the different
way that news magazines choose to integrate their printed editions with the
Web format.

An excellent example of this is the difference between the Web sites of
Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report.

Good:
http://www.newsweek.com/

I love Newsweek's Web site.  The left column is an easy-to-use table
navigation bar that takes you to different parts of the magazine,and to
other Newsweek ventures.  The center part of the site, displays the main
content of the new issue and does so in a nice format.  The links are clear,
the pictures add to the content, and extra features are added underneath.
Finally, the right column, offers a "photo gallery" picture that is usually
amazing, and has a column for current, late-breaking news.   All in all, the
Newsweek web site allows you to read the current issue, get breaking news
stories, and to navigate to other Newsweek products like washingtonpost.com
and britcannica.com.  The site is well-designed, and the graphics and format
are easy-to-use and eye-catching.  I especially, like the color
scheme.....the three columns jump out as distinct, yet the whole site
doesn't appear to "cluttered."

Bad:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/home.htm

U.S. News wouldn't necessarily qualify as a site that "sucks," but it is
boring nonetheless.  The front page of the site is almost fully devoted to
promoting U.S. News infamous Education rankings.  It takes some hunting to
find the stories and features from the latest issue of U.S. News.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/990830/home.htm
And once, there, the articles are merely listed in a boring list format.
The presentation, isn't nearly as appealing as Newsweek's.  Simply using
black for the navigation bar is lame, and on my dinky 14" monitor, the links
ran together and appeared as a jumbled-mess.

**********
-Kevin McCormack
kmcc@email.unc.edu