Techcrunch has new generic skin

Several weeks ago, I wanted to write a post about news sites. And at that time I wanted to give the lowest rating to Techcrunch. That was because Techcrunch had the worst design when competing against GigaOM, VentureBeat and even Mashable.
Let’s analyze the new design and see what is good and what is not so good.

Features:
First thing that all the user will notice is that the look of the site is more solid. The site has now visual effects that look good together. The style is not far from the previous, just that the visual side had a much important priority.
At the top side of the layout, the toolbar with links and search form is no longer available. That is good because in this situations, the lack of that element is good for consistency. Instead the toolbar was replaced by a similar section regarding the content placed above the logo and below the main banner.

The new structure is more magazine like, and it shows multiple news in smaller space. I see it as an advantage but also as a drawback. For example it is good that the user can see a lot of information, but this information is now 2 clicks away. Instead of having the entire news available, now the user has to click in order to read it. I really liked the old style where the click was only need if you wanted to add or read comments.

Another great improvement was that the content was separated from the advertising. Now there is a dedicated column separated from the news. Also, in this new design, the latest article is displayed in a bigger space. Regarding the article, now the user can navigate easier through a previous-next system and read it clear. The new font size was increased to 13px from 11px for a good readability.

Conclusion:
Overall, the new design is far more appropriate than the previous. It has many typography and user interface features. The clean approach is also for the user benefit. Also the new design will be applied to all other properties in order for the user to have the same perception over the websites. Congratulations and good work. Kudos for the designers.

User Interface ★★★★☆
User Experience ★★★★☆
Design ★★★★☆
——————–
Graphic ★★★★☆

Andy Gongea is a passionate UI/UX designer with a great appetite for technology and trends. Currently he owns, a future wife, a loan that comes with a monthly fee and some strange ideas about user interface and user interaction. Cheers! Follow Andy on Twitter: @andygongea

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