Why was the site changed? Gone is easy to read, clearly presented information, with the most used information right at the top of the page--namely the 5-day forecast, and text of the extended forecast underneath it. It was compact, with most of the useful information at or near the top of the page in nicely defined areas. If you wanted lesser value information, it was there as well in an easy to read format just a little bit down the page.
What’s bad about the new format:
Now we are presented with tiny text, tiny icons, tiny headings, the extended forecast in text is GONE completely from the main page, and acres of white space. It’s awkward, not well presented, hard read, and forces your visitors to scroll, scroll, and scroll even more to get to what they want to see. No radar at the top of the screen? No extended forecast text? I really expect a little more than cutesy sun icon for my forecast information. Oh, but I see that I can now change the cutesy little sun icons. That’s certainly a useful feature. *eye roll*
What’s good about it:
The little rotating wind display, and the regional radar on the main page--though you have to scroll almost to the bottom of the page to see it. That could have been easily added, with minimal design changes to the original format.
What was the thinking behind these changes? Was this change for the sake of change? A “freshening” of the format? If so, you took a site that was one of the most clear and useful of weather sites--it really stood out for that--and changed it into something that is painfully close to The Weather Channel website in usefulness. Perhaps you didn’t realize it, but that is NOT a good thing.
