A truly superb piece of analysis of reaction to the redesign of the BBC News website by Martin Belam. He takes apart the generally negative feedback from viewers in a forensic and witty way. Of course, he is exactly the kind of talented geek who perpetrates these outrages in the first place but it’s a marvellous riposte to the inevitable grumpiness that follows any changes in media packaging.
It’s quite sweet to think that BBC Online has now joined the list of ‘national treasures that must never change’, that are ‘not as good as they were’ and ‘are going to hell in a hand-cart.’ Previously, Private Eye was the organ that suffered most from Golden Age Syndrome, but it’s good to see new media is now afflicted with the same curse.
Why are you confusing “grumpiness” with usability?
Nobody would have minded change if it had lead to an improvement — look at the new BBC homepage, which is generally liked.
The new BBC News pages, on the other hand, have reduced usability — more scrolling to read less content, written in low-contrast grey rather than black.
That’s why peopel are upset.