New b5media Portal Goes Live
The new b5media portal page is now live.
There are many good things about it, which I’ll deal with first. I also have one slight reservation, which I’ll leave till last.
It’s very businesslike and has a professional feel to it. Designed by Ben Bleikamp (according to The Blog Herald), the page delivers all the right buttons to click and has a lot of white space which makes it easy on the eye.
It’s minimalist, bordering on severe, making it functional and simple to use. No hoops to jump through, no messy widgets or Flash ads sliding across the screen. Satisfying is the word that comes to mind.
There’s a random channel dip that gives you a selection of posts, and a list of the 14 channels to right, plus a list of headlines down the middle. Everything else is off-page just a click away. The random nature of the channel dip, though, means that you’ll see one thread out of 14 every time you land on the page. Chances are it won’t be one that interests you. Statistically, that’s not a great way of doing it.
Generally, I like the information architecture and the way it doesn’t strain for effect. Technically, it’s A-OK.
Well, OK. I’ve used up my Saturday morning stock of good fellowship. A nagging thought is niggling away in the darker regions of my brain. “Hey, isn’t that all rather boring?”
Alas and alack, in creating a nice page, informative, clean and open, they’ve forgotten that they are a content company, a publisher, not just an impeccably managed internet business.
There are no pictures, no enticements to surf the inventory, not even the slightest razmatazz that might just lure a reader to the content. It could just as well be a train timetable.
Unless, of course, the 14 channels are to have portal pages of their own, but I doubt that. They remain simple category slots : amalgamated content with no branding.
Now, I never expected them to go the whole magazine route that we’re taking, but where oh where is the personality? Where are the publishing skills that turn words on a page into must-read content? Are they relying on search alone? Do they expect to be regarded as a publication at all? Is this just a technical exercise to secure advertising and backers and then sell it off as a bare-bones product that can easily be adapted by a future buyer?
In its present form it’s unclear who would buy it — but then I thought YouTube was unsaleable. My instinct, for what it’s worth, is that b5media is an operating company with no definable product except a sprawling empire of words and other content that relies on size alone to draw attention.
I know it’s not for me to lecture these smart guys who have a lot of experience in other aspects of the internet, but really, where are the publishing hooks to snare and guide the readers?
No print publication survives in these frantic times by being low key and unexceptional. The b5ers desperately need to inject some magic into their content presentation, or they’ll never get beyond the size of their network as the defining factor of b5media.
Apart from that, 9 out of 10.
And I’ve left myself wide open to retaliation when our three magazine portal pages go up. That’s the blogosphere for you. Mind how you go.
John, since you first started talking about b5media, I’ve been curious. Quite frankly what first attracted me to your magazine were the wonderful banners at the right. Yours are out in the open and offer the addition of graphic enticement. So–my own preference is for your creative approach. The writers here are thoughtful and experts in many fields. So, guess I’m prejudiced.
My sense it’s all in the marketing and capturing a wider audience. Good content goes a long way. But, as a politician in our state lamented this week just prior to the elections “Nobody really knows who I am and what I stand for.” So, it’s what you do to grow faithful readers. Just as folks choose to subscribe to a magazine, they’d bookmark Syntagma Magazine to taste many of its best features when they see how great it is.
By Robyn McMaster on November 4th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
Robyn, you are far too kind. But thank you anyway.
I suppose I have my way of doing things and b5 has it’s. As a print man myself, I naturally favour a glossy presentation. Syntagma is not the Wall Street Journal, after all. It doesn’t have to be stuffy and more dignified than thou. But it does have to be interesting.
By John Evans on November 4th, 2006 at 2:47 pm
John you state you don’t like the random nature of the channel sneak peak on the front page “The random nature of the channel dip, though, means that you’ll see one thread out of 14 every time you land on the page. Chances are it won’t be one that interests you. Statistically, that’s not a great way of doing it.”
I think that would only ring true if someone only had one area of interest. I also think b5 has a lot more up it’s sleeve than trying to get sold off to the first purchaser who surfs over and decides to snag them up.
You commend the design for being minimalist and non-intrunsive, then ask why we didn’t throw more pictures and content on the front page to pull everyone’s eyes out of their head.
Confusing
By Jason on November 4th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
Jason, I *state* that the page is technically minimalist and simple to use, which is also my preference. BUT I also suggest that the content needs more packaging and *front of house* presentation. I don’t think the two propositions are necessarily at odds.
By John Evans on November 4th, 2006 at 4:56 pm
Also, I’ve landed three times on the page today and got Celebrities, Entertainment and Arts & Crafts channels served, none of which interests me enough to want to take a dip.
By John Evans on November 4th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
That’s odd, I’ve been randomly hitting the page after running through my Bloglines account and have gotten a different channel every single time. When I visit your page, I never see any content from the other sites you have available to even begin to tease me to dig further.
By Jason on November 4th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
Yes, the same, I got the three channels I mentioned on three occasions.
You have to remember that our portal pages are not yet up. Even so, the graphics get a lot of clicks and have the virtue of simplicity, like the contents page of a magazine. Titles of posts don’t necessarily draw traffic, especially if they’re boring.
By John Evans on November 4th, 2006 at 5:22 pm
John, your observation that the design is minimalist is correct. You also point out that b5 is a content company. This is also correct. Granted, there is a certain “magic” that images have with pulling in readers, but I think what b5 is trying to do is create a dynamic atmosphere that makes you want to explore deeper based on the content, not flashy graphics. Thanks for the review of the new b5 site and the 9 out of 10. All of us over there can get a little defensive at times because we are such a close-knit community of bloggers.
By William on November 4th, 2006 at 6:11 pm
John, as always you’re entitled to your opinion.
Our goal was simple: allow people to discover b5. Allow advertisers to discover the breadth and depth of the network, allow partners to see what we’re all about, allow bloggers to discover both how to blog for b5 and where we currently focus.
There’s nothing about the redesign that’s about b5 getting sold. It never even came up. The redesign is, quite simply about serving our various audiences from the homepage.
If you don’t like it, either we didn’t do a great job or you aren’t the audience. I’ll leave it up to your readers to choose which it’s likely to be.
By Jeremy Wright on November 4th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
I think before you can criticize someone else’s design – it might help to put some better designs in place yourself. Your own design choices are fascinating considering that you’re choosing to attack and criticize b5′s.
I think b5 did a nice job with this – and Ben, as usual, exceeded my own high expectations.
Matt
By Matt on November 4th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Matt, thanks. And you’re right. Ben rocked this project. Especially given the timeframe. He’s a superstar
By Jeremy Wright on November 4th, 2006 at 6:43 pm
Jeremy, you have your views and I respect them. As always I’m just putting another point of view from a different perspectve. We learn from each other and that’s how it should be. Remember though, I did give it a 9 out of 10.
By John Evans on November 4th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
Matt, a constructive critique is not the same as criticism. As I said, I like the simplicity of the page. It will undoubtedly influence our own portal pages.
My point is a different one — not about Ben’s design — but about the branding of the product and its presentation. Look at the nuances, rather than assuming the worst case.
By John Evans on November 4th, 2006 at 8:29 pm
William, you’re right to be defensive — up to a point. I see things from a slightly different point of view because of my background in print. When I said “magic” I didn’t just mean graphics, but a whole method of presentation of the content.
But I’ve said my piece. Good luck to b5.
By John Evans on November 4th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
I kinda figured that on the graphics but I wasn’t sure. In Art, Constructive Critique is good to get, even if the viewer isn’t seeing it as the artist themeselves wants them to. Thanks for the critique and Good luck to Syntagma too.
By William on November 4th, 2006 at 9:05 pm
“We learn from each other and that’s how it should be.”
Hmm. Funny. I haven’t learned anything from you. Let me know when the teaching is going to begin. Until then, I’ll go read a magazine. Like Newsweek.
By Aaron Brazell on November 4th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
Ouch. (on that last comment)
I like b5 new look .. but until I use it .. there’s no sense judging a book by its cover, eh? True – it’s slow now – but I hope that will improve.
From my first impression, it seems like a really nice corporate blog/website for news, news releases, information about the bloggers and advertising and personel recruitment. As a portal to try to showcase the content – I thought that was not successful for my own reasons. (Not enough randomness and too little teasers or posts to glimpse to wet my whistle)
// Off-topic
John .. click at my link URL above. For HART-Empire Network I am now summarizing all posts from every site in the network, cheaply (without fancy and hi-tech programmer or funding at my disposal). That might work for you if you add something like that for searching posts from each of your magazine portals that you have. Right now, there is some sort of group sections on this page – but are all over the place listed in alphabetical order on the individual 50+ websites now. // Just a thought.
By HART (1-800-HART) on November 5th, 2006 at 12:00 am
And I’ve not learned to be bumptious from you Aaron, so we’re quits.
By John Evans on November 5th, 2006 at 9:53 am
HART: Exactly. It works as a sober business website, but not as a portal.
On portals in general, I think the push to have an inevitable river of news should be resisted, if possible. An editor-selected group of excellent recent posts would be much better and more effective in driving traffic. A bit like Netscape’s “anchors”.
So it’s a two-way process. Get them to the individual magazine portal, then encourage a choice of a single site, maximize page views, then surf them off to another. That’s the remit.
By John Evans on November 5th, 2006 at 9:59 am
Holy Sh*t,
I’ve just learned a hell of a lot from web design from Johnny Boy Syntagma-Evans. Who would have thought I learned more from him than Pearson, Bleikamp, and Matt Bob combined. Here’s a summary of feeds from around my blogosphere.
“He’s a genius” – writes US Today
“Network Magazines set to revolutionize the internet” says Newsweek
“Bigger than Digg” – writes Slashdot
By David Krug on November 5th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
No more than we deserve, Cowpoke.
By John Evans on November 5th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
I think everyone is entitled to their opinion regardless of if they can produce a design that is “better” or not. I can’t afford a Ferrari but I can still debate with friends about the design and engine decisions they make
The new b5media site looks good, it’s a lot better, and I’m sure they’ll continue to make it better as time goes on. This is their first release of a “portalized” version of their homepage and I’m positive it won’t be their last. Of course you all remember that the first version (or two!!) of the 9rules website was a far cry from the one we have up there now, and it’s also a far cry from the one we’re dropping soon, so it’s all about iteration.
By Mike Rundle on November 6th, 2006 at 1:16 am
haha @ Krug…
By Aaron Brazell on November 6th, 2006 at 3:34 am
Got it in one, Mike, iteration is the name of the game. Which, of course, is why it’s good to have a range of opinions stacked up as guidance.
There’s a difference though between the torrent of sycophantic “awesomes” that internal b5 chatter is famous for, and a thoughtful, constructive, external opinion that puts a different perspective. It’s like having free consultancy
By John Evans on November 6th, 2006 at 10:35 am
The problem comes, of course, when the Ferrari manufacturer gets engineering advice from the town electrician. Getting advice from GM or Daimler-Chrysler engineers makes sense. There is an obvious base to speak from. I appreciate your kind words, Mike. Design criticism that might come from you as an obviously quality designer is different than criticism from John Evans who can’t seem to associate the differences in print media and web media.
By Aaron Brazell on November 6th, 2006 at 6:51 pm
It’s not an either or, Aaron. Media are media and share a common pool of knowledge. Since my points are not about design but publishing, criticism from a tech guy hardly covers the base, does it?
By John Evans on November 6th, 2006 at 8:11 pm
I am far from just “a tech guy” John. Your criticisms are against the IA of the site and that is in my realm. Personally, I don’t care what you think. I also don’t think most other people care what you think. I think you’re trying to represent yourself and your experience as something it’s not and I findly it highly deceptive and to a large degree offensive.
By Aaron Brazell on November 6th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
My point is that the content needs better presentation. I praised the IA of the site. I repeat, it was a publishing point. “Deceptive”, “offensive” are a bit paranoid in this case.
By John Evans on November 6th, 2006 at 8:21 pm
Wow… Its a real fight going on here.
Anyways since everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Here’s my 2 cents.
http://www.internet20.org/entry/b5media-redesign/
By Naveen on November 9th, 2006 at 7:48 am
Naveen, thanks for the link. Your piece is well worth reading. I hope all the participants in this thread will read it.
By John Evans on November 9th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
[...] while back I critiqued b5 for lacking publishing skills, basing itself purely on geekery, and lacking proper branding. “What is a b5media, [...]
By SYNTAGMA » Community vs Publishing Play on February 9th, 2007 at 1:41 pm