Author Archives: Steve McConnell

About Steve McConnell

Digital communications strategist and managing editor at UC Berkeley

Back to the drawing board

It’s been a busy month in redesign land, partly because we’ve finally nailed down a workable hosting arrangement for the new NewsCenter, thanks to a three-way partnership with the journalism school and IST. But we’ve also revisited our core design, … Continue reading

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Arriving in Oz: Color joins the design fray

No surveys this time, just a couple more NewsCenter design iterations in search of feedback. You’ll see that these two designs have a lot in common, signaling that we’re closing in on a look and feel we think will serve … Continue reading

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The squeeze box and the file tab

Last month’s survey uncovered a clear preference for less busy-ness and wider columns on the NewsCenter, with Option 2 the hands-down favorite. (Here are the three options to refresh your memory.) However, we still need to meet the needs of … Continue reading

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Boxes, boxes everywhere

We’ve been working for the past month+ on several NewsCenter design iterations that try to find the best placement for all the news content our readers tell us they want. Just like when you move into a new house, this … Continue reading

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Shifting gears

We’ve now largely completed the research phase of the NewsCenter redesign project; thanks for all your feedback about how you consume news and what you like and dislike about the way we provide it. Now we’re beginning to use the … Continue reading

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Likes and dislikes

Wrapping up our review of audience feedback, let’s take a look at answers to the open-ended “likes and dislikes” section of the NewsCenter reader survey. Gratifyingly, our readers found a lot more to compliment than to criticize on the current … Continue reading

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