A little more than two months after its launch, BostonGlobe.com has won two major awards from the trade journal Editor & Publisher: Best Daily Newspaper Website and Best Overall Website Design. The Globe’s Boston.com site also won an award, for Best Entertainment Website. All three prizes were in the category of newspaper sites with at least one million unique visitors a month.
The so-called EPPY Awards are a recognition of the Globe’s innovative approach in designing its new paid site — a reliance on “responsive design,” based on HTML5, that allowed programmers to put together one website that adjusts itself to fit a variety of devices, from computers to smartphones.
In using the site, I’ve found that I have to do more clicking and scrolling than I’d like. It’s fine for reading a few stories, but not necessarily the whole paper. I’ve even reverted to GlobeReader on occasion, despite its being somewhat long in the tooth. But BostonGlobe.com is startlingly fast, which makes the clicking easier to deal with, and the design and usability have been improved here and there since its debut.
The real story, of course, is how many readers have signed up for paid digital subscriptions. And that’s a story that, so far, has yet to be told.
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Dan,
A month or two ago I followed your lead and went Sunday only and read the daily paper online.
I think the new site is pretty good but I still use Globe Reader to read thea daily paper pretty much from cover to cover — a close to 40 year habit. You’re right, there’s still too much scrolling and clicking on Bostonglobe.com to go through the whole paper efficiently.
A few weeks ago I contacted Globe customer service to point out that Globe Reader had downloaded the wrong story under the correct headline regarding a recent Republican debate. I suggested they were neglecting Globe Reader in lieu of the new site but the response indicated they were still trying to improve Globe Reader and had no plans to scrap it. I remember you posted awhile back that the Globe wouldn’t be improving it and would eventually take it down.
Globe Reader is still the best alternative for a serious newspaper reader, dying breed that we are. I hope they maintain it or replace it with something user friendly for their dedicated core.