The Mess on HuffPo (Original #3)

It seems to me that the current trend in design is to keep things simple. We are bombarded by so much information that it is important for organizations to tell us exactly where to focus and to keep multiple ideas conveniently organized. For example, Barack Obama's presidential campaign used simple and sleek designs, like the famous "O," as well as simple words and phrases like "change," "hope," and "yes, we can."

Social media in general tends to embrace simplicity, with strict character limits on tweets and the easy white and light blue of Facebook. What comes to mind is Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network" saying "nice and simple" (or something like that, I saw the movie a while ago) when explaining to Eduardo why the soon-to-be-launched Facebook relied on minimalism of design. I also think of Twitter's character limits that reduce all thoughts to the bare minimum, at-replies and hashtags that rely on old short symbols to add an entire layer of context, and the icons websites like Digg use as buttons on webpages to reference those webpages on said websites. Simplicity is key in today's world and social media has naturally picked up on (and driven?) this trend.

So it confuses me that the Huffington Post has such a messy homepage (at least in my opinion). The first thing you see when you click onto the website is usually a large headline and picture about the latest development in whatever issue is currently trending. It is harsh and very in-your-face, where Twitter and other popular sites tend to be quieter.

Then you notice a jumble of text under the picture and your mind doesn't know where to focus. As you scroll down, you see three columns, only the leftmost of which seems to have a unifying theme (featured writers and/or posts). The other two cover a plethora of topics, and again there isn't an obvious place to focus. In general, the page seems messy and I think that is unappealing.

Now, it would seem that I am wrong in saying that this is a big problem, given that the Huffington Post is so popular. It is considered one of, if not the, most popular political website and just sold for $315m. However, an audience profile reveals that HuffPo is increasingly popular as you move up age demographics. In fact, 68% of readers are 35 and older and only in the 35-49 and 50+ age groups does HuffPo exceed total internet population. To me, this means that it is older readers who are driving the site's popularity and that the site may have an uncertain future as it struggles to adapt to emerging reader proclivities.

Given that blogs are declining in popularity and that people increasingly have shorter attention spans that make it difficult to even read moderately length-ed  online articles, those who run the Huffington Post may need to temper their expectations for HuffPo and determine whether they even want to bend to the demands of emerging consumers. I think that if they do want to bend to those demands, they should start by redesigning the homepage.

It is important to focus the attention of people bombarded with stimuli and organize information presented in an increasingly complex and stressful world. Other blogs, like Daily Kos, are neater. I personally like the design of The Atlantic Wire and SB Nation. The Wire is clean and simple and both websites are well-organized, avoid excessive clutter, and ensure that you always know the theme of the column you are looking at.  It may mean reducing the number of features but HuffPo may be wise to trim around the edges and look more like one of these sites.

Do you think HuffPo should change its look?