News websites face the challenge of presenting a significant amount of varied content in an organized way that allows for constant updates. Different news organizations tackle this challenge in a variety of creative ways. The Washington Post chooses to organize content within a layout that reflects the look of a traditional newspaper, but they have made calculated design choices to adapt to the web platform. The home page starts off with three clean columns and has two navigation-type menus. I particularly like that the site navigation is out of the way at the very top of the page. If I am going to a news outlet’s home page I’m likely seeking top headlines rather than a specific section. Links to major headline topics in place of where you might except to see a site navigation menu makes good sense. I like that this site naturally draws your eyes down the page by purposefully placing headlines directly after the blurb before, but with appropriate spacing between stories. The three columns allow the volume of content to be less overwhelming as well.
Vox takes completely different approach to solving the problem of overwhelming content volume. It’s home page integrates slightly more color than the Washington Post but is still visually calming. My eye is immediately drawn to the Latest News column on the left, which is exactly what I was looking for as a visitor to the site – thanks Vox! They have also thought a lot about what the page looks like as you scroll. The page is separated into sections that can stand alone, fitting within the reader’s field of vision at any given time. They are arguably pushing just as much content as the Washington Post site, but by communicating only through the headline (and its link to the full article) the page clean and organized.
The Vice News home page takes these two very different designs and marries my favorite aspects of each beautifully. Similar to the Vox site, one of the first things you see is a huge hero image featuring whatever content they’re pushing at the time. Like the Washington Post site, it has a more recognizable navigation bar at the top of the page.
As you scroll down the page it reflects the Vox site again in that you can see the next section of content on the page all at once, but it also incorporates neat columns like the Post site. The strategy of highlighting the top story in each news category and clearly marking those categories give the reader the ability to scan the page quickly for what they’re looking for. Though there is still a ton of information there, it is neatly spaced and incorporates clean horizontal and vertical alignment.
