In early 2009, PCMag announced that it would cease publication of its print magazine and move to a purely digital format.
I served as the User Experience Lead on the redesign of PCMag. This redesign was crucial to the future success of PCMag.
Key Questions
- How do we create a rewarding user experience that still achieves the client’s advertising revenue goals?
- How can we provide easy access to 15 years worth of web content?
- How do we use information architecture to help tie together PCMag’s various blogs and affiliate websites?
Project Highlights
- Developed 25 wireframes to create a better balance between editorial content and advertisements
- Unified three competing site taxonomies into a single product navigation scheme
- Developed strategies for incorporating user generated comments, ratings, and other web 2.0 functionality
- Designed a a comprehensive search interface
- Introduced advanced navigation techniques such as megadrops, fat footers, and rotating carousels
The Results
PCMag did a Beta launch of the new Homepage and navigation in October of 2009. PCMag plans to roll out additional IA improvements in the following months.
PCMag’s editor-in-chief, Lance Ulanoff, wrote a column to introduce the Beta launch of the new design. Reactions to the new design were overwhelmingly positive, although a few curmudgeons still preferred the old design.
In March 2010, PCMag won a ADDYs Gold Award for Interactive Media.