After more than six months of careful planning the redesign of The Australian Business website went live on the 18th October.
The new business site design was conceived through a comprehensive understanding of user needs for financial information. Contextual enquiry during the research phase lead by Dennis Nordstrom identified a clear user need for the delivery of a wide breadth and depth of world financial information in an Australian context.
[caption id="attachment_296" align="center" width="300" caption="Creating the site structure during the collaborative design session"]
In content terms the site needed to integrate the full business editorial resources of the national newspaper and in a News Corporation first be underpinned by contextual content/market data from other global properties such as The Wall Street Journal, The Times, Dow Jones and MarketWatch.
Therefore the mission from a user experience perspective was to successfully convey the huge volume of financial information available in a fashion that did not overwhelm or confuse.
[caption id="attachment_298" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Collaborative design sketch by Dennis Nordstrom & Alun Machin"]
The final product design concept was based around a simple contextual three column based solution for the vast majority of site sections. Editorial content is primary displayed in the left column, comparative market data/tools are placed in the centre column and supporting analysis, opinion and multimedia in the right hand column.
[caption id="attachment_299" align="alignnone" width="260" caption="The final result"]
The site also introduces a whole new raft of features including:
- A snapshot of the key markets, currencies and commodities around the world at the top of every site page
- New areas focusing on World Business News, Financial Markets, Industry Sectors, Mining & Energy, Media, Opinion, Wealth and Executive Lifestyle
- Expanded editorial coverage and contextual market data for industry sectors such as Property and Aviation
- Interactive company charting showing key events and trading data such as dividend payments, trading volume underpinned with contextual news reports
- Comprehensive background information on all ASX-listed Australian companies plus data on stocks, stock market indices, currencies and commodities
- Suggested company name functionality when searching for stock quote information
- Display of previously searched company stock quotes
- ‘Story behind the story’ in-depth coverage on major issues such as the current global financial crisis
For further information on the new website a comprehensive guide is available to view in PDF format.
If you have any feedback (both positive and negative) or questions concerning the new site please leave a comment.
