Graphic Rating

The New Yahoo! – Pros and Cons

• by Andy Gongea
• Jul 22, 2009
• 2 Comments »

I think you remember the middle ages, it was back when Yahoo! wanted a redesign. Well, after a great deal of time, the redesign is here. Fresh or not, good or bad … I will detail my conclusion over the latest revamped version of Yahoo! portal.

Cleaner UI

Pros:The new user interface has suffered major changes. The first change when it comes to the visual side is the logo. Not only the color is changed but also the position. In this way the logo has more spaced and it’s emphasized and also the search box is more visible. Overall Good Choice!

The left menu is the same as element but not as content. Now the menu’s elements are displayed in a clearer way, with bigger and more interesting icons. The rest of the UI has about the same structure with minor changes. Also the old right side menu, that had email, horoscope, events, messenger etc is gone.

No Cons for now.

Advanced Customization

Pros: The new interface has several items that can be customized. This is a great thing from my point of view because, it will keep the user on the site with the help of modules connected to other sites: Gmail, AOL Mail. So instead of having to check your Yahoo! Mail or Gmail account through their own addresses, now you can check your emails inside Yahoo!.

Cons:The downside of customization part is that there are only several sites that are integrated with the new interface. I was really surprised not to see Delicious among preferences and Twitter.

User Experience

This UX side of the site has been improved a lot. Now the left menu has noticeable visual feedback when you interact with it. Big blocks of the interface appear with a relative high contrast which make you responsive to the change. Good practices that will keep the user alert and interacting with the site.

Performance

Cons: The performance is something that bothers me with the new site. With all these customization and slick left menu, the performance took a hit. I’m quite confident that on slower machines, the site will not work well. But, I guess that with some patches and in time, the new interface will be fully optimized. For example, right now, not all the items from the left menu are part of a sprite image which is the right path.

Overall

I think this new redesign will make the visitors stay more on the site – increased time on site. Also, because of these customizable items, maybe the bounce rate will decrease and the number of visitors will rise – but this is still conditioned by the content. And as I said earlier – the site needs to improve its speed.

As a conclusion – Yahoo! has my vote. Cheer!