Boston.com Sucks
I read a few things online every day, the Boston Globe was one of them. This week, though, their site was completely redesigned, and it really, really, REALLY sucks.
So I wrote them a letter. Here it is.
I have no way of knowing if this will reach its destination, because the new Globe website doesn't list email addresses for the ombudsman. I'm guessing that "ombudsman@globe.com" might be right, but the site isn't helping to confirm my guess. Even a site-search for "ombudsman email" turned up literally nothing.
Nor does the new site list email addresses for editors, or anyone else - at least not in any obvious way. And I'm relatively experienced with searching websites; what chance will readers have who are less comfortable with the online experience?
I'm sorry to say that the redesign also fails to provide useful news in a readable and dependable format, as the old site did.
Please note that I am *not* decrying the loss of a beloved font or layout. This is not a matter of some minor detail. The new site is simply unreadable; many of the links to articles are broken (the Aquarium article today, for example, which I would have found interesting), and the layout in general is extremely confusing and difficult to read. This is far and away the worst online newspaper or news site format that I have ever seen, bar none.
The feedback link goes to a generic webform for boston.com, with no contact section listing email addresses for various departments of the Globe; why, exactly, are you choosing to hide from your online readers?
I could guess why, but in any case it's insulting. A newspaper should be responsive to its readers, and that requires openness - not a virtual barricade.
I have read the Globe online daily for years, but thanks to this atrocious redesign I'll be removing it from my reading list.
->Peter
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Peter Maranci peter@maranci.net
So I wrote them a letter. Here it is.
I have no way of knowing if this will reach its destination, because the new Globe website doesn't list email addresses for the ombudsman. I'm guessing that "ombudsman@globe.com" might be right, but the site isn't helping to confirm my guess. Even a site-search for "ombudsman email" turned up literally nothing.
Nor does the new site list email addresses for editors, or anyone else - at least not in any obvious way. And I'm relatively experienced with searching websites; what chance will readers have who are less comfortable with the online experience?
I'm sorry to say that the redesign also fails to provide useful news in a readable and dependable format, as the old site did.
Please note that I am *not* decrying the loss of a beloved font or layout. This is not a matter of some minor detail. The new site is simply unreadable; many of the links to articles are broken (the Aquarium article today, for example, which I would have found interesting), and the layout in general is extremely confusing and difficult to read. This is far and away the worst online newspaper or news site format that I have ever seen, bar none.
The feedback link goes to a generic webform for boston.com, with no contact section listing email addresses for various departments of the Globe; why, exactly, are you choosing to hide from your online readers?
I could guess why, but in any case it's insulting. A newspaper should be responsive to its readers, and that requires openness - not a virtual barricade.
I have read the Globe online daily for years, but thanks to this atrocious redesign I'll be removing it from my reading list.
->Peter
------------------------------------------------
Peter Maranci peter@maranci.net