Don’t let news get in the way of what the users want. Cut news.

Many websites still look like online newspapers and seems to think that their users’ main task is:

“Hmmm… anything important happened in this organization lately, let me go to their website to have a look”.

If you´re NOT an online newspaper it is not very likely that news is the most important element on your website. Cut it. Get rid of it. A quick glance at the U.S state websites illustrates the problem. A sad story. Ok, I have to admit that as a Norwegian I have limited knowledge about the main tasks on U.S state webites, but I am quite certain that it is not to keep myself updated on the latest news from the state. It sure ain´t here in Norway.

Minnesota – 60% of the front page for news and banners

“DNR asks citizens to give turtles a break” is one of the headlines. Yes, it is important for turtles, but is this the right channel for this?

California – latest news from Mr. Schwarzenegger

Dear Arnold. You are a “Cut the crap” kind of guy. Now, let us cut the crap and give the users a fast access to the most important services. You should really stop pumping out those news!

Good exceptions are Massachusetts and Colorado which at least focus on tasks and services instead of news. They got the same ugly looks and strange interaction design as the others, but at least they have got the right mindset.

Why is it like this?

1. Most CMS-systems are made to produce online newspapers. Just look at the metaphors: Articles, list of articles etc. Automatic “Read more” links and predefined templates for a newspaper look.
2. Many web-editors are journalists and used to news as the only way to communicate
3. We have to show that something is happening! No, you don´t. People don´t care. Check your statistics
4. Many web teams are evaluated by how much they produce. They should be evaluated by how much content they delete.

Why fix it?

You can start using your time doing important stuff, like fix your content, find out what the users top tasks are and start measuring task performance.

How do you fix it?

1. Find out what the top tasks are
2. Redesign the site with focus on the top tasks
3. Watch your users getting happy

Not convinced? The books of Gerry McGovern or Kristina Halvorson could help.

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