TimesOfIndia.com Gets A Makeover; Indiatimes Launches New Version Of Mail
By Nikhil Pahwa - Sun 22 Apr 2007 08:56 PM PST
First NDTV.com got overhauled, followed by the HindustanTimes.com. Now The Times of India has received a makeover:
Videos (from Times Now) and photos are more accessible now in the right hand column, and the content down the middle is much more comfortable a read. The right hand column has latest updates and most read news items. What I didn’t like was that ‘Blogs, Letters to the Editor and content from “My Times, My Voice” are right at the bottom of the page, though having those integrated into the main page is a good move. Ads now are also clearly demarcated. Inside sections have been reformatted to allow much easier content discovery. As per a message from ToI on the redesign, posted on the site, sections have been modified based on readers’ usage habits. The resolution too has evolved from 800x600 to 1024x768.
What’s disappointing, however, is that the popups remain. Also, there are social bookmarking features, though I’m not sure of whether that’s working for other sites that have integrated it; To use an HR analogy, I think it’s more of a hygiene factor. The redesign in applicable to only Times of India pages - Indiatimes.com remains untouched, though there is one other significant change. Indiatimes Mail has also received a makeover (screencap), though available only for new users. Seems to me that they’ve added AJAX - access is fast (though my new mailbox is empty). The interface looks spiffy. What do you think of the changes?
Posted in: Newspapers, Portals
