BBC unveils new touch screen inspired bbc.co.uk homepage

The BBC has unveiled a new version of the bbc.co.uk. homepage It’s in beta, but is looking good and serves as a reminder of how much the BBC offers.

The new look now sports sliding screens, that are clearly inspired by touch screen phones and tablet computers, that sweep across the page allowing visitors to easily navigate a lot of content much.

The BBC home page has a big job to do in fighting to keep its traffic. At the moment it attracts 9 million unique users a week, but like all portal type homepages that is declining.

I personally never visit it, going instead straight to news, to BBC iPlayer via search and social links.

The change to the homepage comes after the BBC announced its plans to reorganise the BBC’s online service into ten product areas in January 2011 and also announced a 25% budget reduction for BBC Online, which resulted in 360 jobs losses over the next two years.

Would like great on an iPad but does it lack buzz?

You know this would look great on an iPad and that might be part of its problem as it is really designed for that more than your average PC. But that said I like the way it is very easy to navigate and design wise it draws you around the page. It is easy to jump around.

What I don’t like is that it feels utterly divorced from the web and social media. I know it has a most popular, but there is no sense of what people are saying about BBC programmes. In essence there is not buzz. There is no sign of social networking or social media at all that I noticed. I think you really have to have something of that.

Key changes

Some of the things the new look allows visitors to do include setting local preferences for information that is local to them, including news, weather and TV schedules.

The at-a-glance guide to top stories from BBC News and Sport and highlights from across BBC TV, Radio and Online.

You can choose the headings that appeal to see much more of what interests you (such as entertainment, news and sport). You can also see what stories and programmes are proving popular with other BBC users in terms of most read, watched and listened.

And of course, you can see what is being broadcast on TV and Radio right now, and look ahead to plan your viewing and listening.

You can find more out about the BBC Homepage here.

Source: The Wall