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The BBC redesign seems to be pushing ahead, and extending to other areas of the site (other than just the homepage which has been running the new version for a couple of weeks now).

Today I was pleasantly surprised when viewing a sports article; partly because it’s amusing to see how optimistic Kevin Keegan can be having finally won a game (or two), and partly because I liked the new-look article pages.

My first impression is how little has been changed from the old version – and I mean that in a positive way. I always found the old BBC site very easy to use, with the actual content being the centre of attention. The only exception perhaps being the left-hand navigation which I always found a little confusing. The new-look pages use very minor stylistic changes to make the navigation easier to use, without drastically changing how the site works.

This approach seems markedly different from the new-look homepage.

The general idea behind the homepage seems sound enough – let the user choose what should take precedence. Some of the features, however, seem to stray into the realm of the completely pointless (analogue clock top-right – I already have a clock on my PC thanks, and on my wrist, and on my phone; in fact I’m usually fairly aware of the time). In addition, some of the execution grates; the fact that clicking the Sport sub-heading momentarily makes the entire block float and then defloat before you are taken to the Sport page*.

*Update: They seem to have fixed this now – all credit to the guys at BBC! I reported this via the online feedback form (and I’m guessing so did quite a few others) and now it doesn’t try to drag the block by clicking on the headline.)

Interestingly having re-vistited the homepage I’m now at a loss to remember some of my previous issues with it!

I think overall the redesign is a success. The fact that it is not too far away from the old BBC website will keep a level of familiarity for regular users, and probably prevent alienating them (most people generally don’t like change!) The differences are generally well though-out and do seem to be an improvement on the previous site. And thankfully the BBC are moving away from the old embedded Real Player / Windows Media Player approach to the much more straightforward inline flash player for video playback.

It’s not all smooth-running though. I guess we all have teething problems with new projects occasionally – except at Neoco.