Washingtonpost.com: Live Online

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Bethesda, Md.: How much effort was put into creating this page like focus groups or design consultants?

Doug Feaver: Good afternoon and thanks for joining us.
This was a relatively modest redesign but was informed by market research had done that suggested, in part, that people understood what was happening at the top of the page but found a lack of continuity below that. Our design work was done in house with input from various editorial and advertising constituencies. About five people did most of the work, but many more contributed at one time or another. From the day we decided to do it to implementation took about six weeks.

Somewhere, USA: I have to say , I don't really like the new design. It's a little overwhelming -- too much information for a front page. Any chance of going back to the old one?

Doug Feaver: We're always looking at our design. One of the nice things about the Internet is that things can change in a relative hurry. But I don't see us returning to the exact old design; interestingly one of the criticisms we heard often about it was that there was too much information for a front page. An internet home page, of course, is not a front page in the sense of a newspaper front page. It's a very different animal. It must convey the latest news, but must also serve as guide to the multitude of other offerings on the site.

Fairfax, Va.: Your new format is very impressive; easy to view and find info.

However, as the leading newspaper of the greatest nation in the world, it is a sad commentary that the right hand column on the front, which summarizes the top stories of the paper's contents, has sports before the nation, world and business. But the saddest commentary of all is that education is at the bottom.

Doug Feaver: There is no way to satisfy every consitutency and there are several editors here who agree with you, although each would have a different suggestion for which subject area should be listed first. Sports has consistently drawn strong traffic at washingtonpost.com even though few sports stories land on the top of the page, which is usually laden with the most important nation and world stories.

Ashburn, Va.: Mr. Feaver:

I keep washingtonpost.com as my home page at the office and I refer to it frequently during the day. I've noticed that different stories will attract my attention during the day, often because you have changed the headline. I was wondering whether you use the Web site as a research environment to explore different styles and wordings in headlines to attract the reader's eye. You could study the number of "hits" you get before and after a headline change of a certain type (size, position, wording). This information could then be used to improve the headline writing in your print addition.

Do you do such a thing now or have you considered it?

Thank you.

Doug Feaver: I wish we were that smart or scientific. We change the page througout the day to reflect what we think is the most important or most interesting item of the moment. Usually there is a new item on the page that has caused some restructuring, and that results in headlines being rewritten. Other times we rewrite a headline because we think we can make it better.

Reston, Va.: Can you provide a statistical summary of how the use of the site increased during the month of September 2001? Did the events of 9/11 signigicantly alter the number of people who use the site or what features they find useful?

Doug Feaver: The use of the site increased dramatically on 9/11 and again on 9/12, as did the use of all Internet news sites that day. We had 28 million page views both days. Historically, major news events -- Clinton/Lewinsky or the neverending 2000 election -- have resulted in major traffic surges and we have attracted and retained a significant number of new users. A major news story is still most visited feature of our site, although many other features such as TV and movie listings in our entertainment guide can draw a large audience.

Arlington, Va.: I work for another news Web site in the area and I'm curious about how your site deals with breaking news. Let's say there is another suicide bombing in Israel today. I assume someone busily starts writing text for it (from wpost.com or the newspaper?). How many editors does it go through before it hits your homepage? Do you reply on reporters from the paper for leads or does your staff do simultaneous reporting? Thanks.

Doug Feaver: A story such as the one you describe would typically come to our attention first from a wire service. We would check with The Post newsroom to see if a Post version of the story is available; if so we would use that. If not, we would place the wire story on the site, then replace it with a Post story later. At least two editors see the story before it goes leave. We do some of our own reporting but rely heavily on The Washington Post's outstanding newsroom.

Tokyo, Japan: I like the change. My first thought was "good, now I know where to look for things," and my second thought was "ah, they did it like the New York Times does it." I can't be the only person who thought this. Did their format have any influence, or was it just that this way seemed best?

Doug Feaver: We heard many users tell us they wanted better organization and we tried to provide that in a way that makes sense and that looks like washingtonpost.com. Organizing news into nation, world, metro, etc., is a fairly standard news site paradigm that in some ways emulates the newspaper section arrangements. Obviously we look at the Times and many other news sites all the time, but we didn't set out to copy it, if that's your question.

Alexandria, Va.: Whatever happened to "PM Extra?" Did you find that the constant updates throughout the day made the idea moot? Or did Joel Achenbach take it away along with his "Rough Draft?"

I kind of liked it -- 1 p.m. or so at lunchtime was a good time to check for the latest news. (I miss Joel too.)

Doug Feaver: Good question. The PMExtra was a huge success for us in terms of establishing the concept that we were not just reproducing an electronic version of the morning paper, we were in fact a breaking news site bringing Post quality reporting to our users throughout the day. But the fact is we update the site all day (and all night) long, and many users were telling us that they thought we just updated once, with the PMExtra. We wanted to change that understanding.
And we miss Joel's Rough Draft too, although it still makes an occasional appearance.

Norfolk, Va.: I like the new design. However, I have a serious problem with the recent assault of pop-up ads. I think you defeat your own purpose using them. People find pop-up killers easily, or if not, just close the box without even looking at them.

On the other hand, this ad over here on the right is visible as I type, as is the banner ad above. I can't help but notice them and I cannot get rid of them without also getting rid of what I came here to see.

Doug Feaver: Advertising helps pay the bills and I am delighted that advertisers want to be on our site. With pop up ads we are employing a format that seeks to engage readers between pages of the site. Pop up ads load during this interval and then enable readers to move forward to selected content. Internet advertising formats are very much in the developmental stage; all sites are experimenting with them, but we know that advertising will be an important part of the user experience.

Washington, D.C.: Please change the Entertainment Page. While I think the home page redesign is subtle and very usable (I like having more headlines to read at once), I feel that the Entertainment page that was launched last year does a disservice to your wonderful Web site. The search feature that the section relies upon is incredibly unreliable and makes it nearly impossible for users to find the content that they are looking for. A good search should be in addition to great navigation -- this is a bad search in leiu of almost any navigation. I know that most of my company (of 40+ people) has stopped going to the Entertainment page regularly because of the pure frustration of the user experience. Please change this section; it's incredibly valuable to the community but its design is a real hindrance. Do you have plans to change it? Thank you.

Doug Feaver: Thanks for your comments. Search is one of the great necessities of the Internet and one of the great technical challenges. We continue to work on improving searches throughout the site, not just in the Entertainment Section.

Gordonsville, Va.: Are there any plans to redesign the look of "my washingtonpost.com?"

Doug Feaver: Short answer is yes, we are looking to add some features to mywashingtonpost.com. One of its virtues, of course, is that you can decide what you want and don't want on yourwashingtonpost.com, but are striving to make the options as attractive and useful as possible.

Beltsville, Md.: Why can it take so long to get breaking news on the main page?

Yesterday, for example, I heard the rumor about the body in Rock Creek and found it mentioned on two other local news sites and one national but there was nothing on the Post's main page. Something as simple as "Breaking News: Body discovered in Rock Creek, details to follow" would've sufficed.

It's not really a criticism, I'm just curious as to what standards are required before a story is posted.

Doug Feaver: A good question. We had news of the discovery of a body on the site rather quickly after the fact was learned. We did not give the story prominent position until it became clear -- and until the police said -- that they were examining the possibility that the body was Chandra Levy's. I have told my staff time and again that I would rather be right than first, and that was the principle we followed yesterday.

Washington, D.C.: The type seems so tiny on the home page -- any chance of bumping it up?

Doug Feaver: We use standard type sizes. It is possible for you to check your browser settings and make adjustments yourself.

Washington, D.C.: Just wanted to tell you I LOVE the new homepage design! Very user-friendly and enjoyable! Thanks for the great change!

Doug Feaver: That's the last question. I'm out of time. And thank you to someone I suspect is occupying a northwest corner 5th floor office in downtown Washington.

washingtonpost.com:

That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion.

washingtonpost.com:

That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion.

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