Web eval: Liss example

Here's a mini, mini example of a very focused Web site evaluation, along the lines of what I'm expecting for your first assignment.

Comparing cnn.com and abcnews.com on the topic of Super Tuesday results.

I. Content & value adds

A. CNN - Politics page - organizing principle is a grid of state-by-state results, with out much setup or any context-adding set of stories

B. ABCNews - results page - similar setup, but more of a list.  All the numbers you could want, projected winners, etc.

C. Analysis: This was not what I was looking for in a results page.  Sure, I wanted to be able to see the numbers, but I would have much preferred a page that gave me access to the numbers while giving me the context of what happened Super Tuesday, some 24 hours after the polls closed on the East coast.

II. Interactivity

A. Analysis story - CNN - McCain clear leader; split decision may help Obama The bar across the top offers "Interactive" but click on it, and there's not much that's clearly interactive - no place to comment, no evidence of other user comments

B. ABC analysis story - How did Hillary capture the Hispanic vote? - No clear link on top to interactivity, but this is a blog with user comments clearly indicated at the bottom of the page

C. Analysis - Both of these are clearly analysis items, ripe for soliciting user comments.  Neither goes too far out of the way to invite user input.  ABC's does have clearly labeled "User comments" at the bottom of the page.  I find it a little disappointing that user input doesn't appear to be valued at all on CNN, at least in this context.  CNN's blogs may have more clear opportunity.  ABC's user opportunities were a bit more clear, and users were taking advantage - there were dozens of user comments below the blog entry.

III. Navigation/design

A. CNN homepage - way down, almost below the fold, a tiny, somewhat vague "Your Super Tuesday" - also a tiny text link on top - popular links

B. ABC homepage- Higher on the page, but about the same size "Super Tuesday results - See all Super Tuesday results here" - same real estate, but much clearer and more effective

C. Analysis: On CNN, I initially followed the wrong link at the bottom of the page to an I-report, CNN's way of doing citizen journalism.  On ABC, I followd the link to the results, but that's all I got. I wanted more.