newspaper design
classified design
web design
online design
newspaper redesign
classified redesign







ctnow.com
Hartford, CT
Nancy Stimac, Classified Advertising Director




GOALS

1. Establish a common interface for all classifieds, to reduce the brand confusion created by third-party verticals, such as cars.com.

2. Create a more intuitive, quicker and easier-to-use navigation system.

3. Emphasize simplicity and ease of use, rather than offering dozens of links on every page – the common practice of most commercial and newspaper websites.

STRATEGIES

1. Eliminate the ctnow.com yellow nav bar and all its content, except for "place an ad."

2. Prominently place links and phone number to "Place an ad" on every page.

3. Eliminate redundant links.

4. Reduce the barriers to relevant tips, tools and other useful information that can help customers make decisions by reducing clutter and improving navigation.

5. Create a context-sensitive navigation system to emphasize those links that relate directly to a visitor’s interests as he or she navigates through the site. Build two versions of this system – one which places context-sensitive menus on the right side of an 800 x 600 dpi browser window, and the other using Javascript pop-up pull-down menus.





Before & after



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