Portfolio: Boston.com Web site expert product review

Boston.com is an online magazine put out by the Boston Globe. It's about Boston, including hosted sites for other media outlets. The Content Manager wanted an outside review of the site's usability. I looked at topics like terminology, navigation and readability. These changes were applied throughout the site, making it easier for readers.

Clearer indication of where you are. The original design did not clearly indicate what part of the site you were in. In this example, "Music" identifies the page. In the original design, it was in the middle of the page, now it is right over the menu. It still identifies the page, but now is part of a hierarchy starting with the "Boston.com" link at the top, going down through the navigation bar. Other items were cleaned up for clarity.

The new design (right) makes navigation clearer by putting category and subcategory
names above the navigation area instead of over the content area.

Clearer terminology. Wording changes make information on the site more accessible. For example, "Yellow Pages" is more familiar than "Resources."

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The site now uses familiar terminology like "Yellow Pages Directory" instead of "Resources" (left) making the site easier to use.

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