Mapping A Successful Model for High-Traffic Media Sites
In 1998, the Internet boom was just hitting its stride - and USA Today, like many traditional offline media outlets, was grappling with how to render its online identity. In many respects, the newspaper - even then the highest-circulation national daily in the United States - was well-suited to an online existence, given its clear graphics, cogent stories and multiple-section format. However, the outlet was uncertain regarding best practices for designing a truly robust daily-news site even as it was about to embark on rebuilding its web presence.

Services Provided

Expert Evaluation, Competitive Analysis

Methodology/Solution
First, Catalyst undertook an expert evaluation of USAToday.com to assess what it currently offered visitors. At the same time, we queried executives regarding their business and reader objectives - as well as asking them to identify key online competitors. It became clear that at the time, three peers in particular were relevant to USA Today: CNN Interactive, MSNBC and Yahoo! News. Catalyst also realized that a back-to-basics approach was called for when it came to drawing up a roadmap: USA Today needed input in areas ranging from navigation structure, to content selection, to visual design, to personalization (at the time a relatively new online consumer trend). An exhaustive review of the three competitor sites according to five core criteria (Structure + Hierarchy of Information; Navigation + Efficiency of Use; Content + Interactivity; Presentation + Visual Design; and Personalization) provided key insights into best UI practices for real-time media sites. These included the importance of broad layers of information with finite but flexible choices; too much navigation, inconsistently taxonomized, would inhibit news seekers and browsers as much as a design that was too rigid and offline-media-like. In 1998, this cautionary note was particularly salient - given the growing enthusiasm at the time for ever-flashier sites as web-design technology flourished.

Benefits

• Cogent roadmap for USAToday developers to use when deciding how to evolve both the functionality and presentation of their site.

• Detailed observations regarding key peers at the time and how they treated their key audiences from a user-interface perspective.

• Grounded, user-centered best-practices that would permit a high-functioning site without having to compromise visual or brand imperatives.

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