Chicago Tribune Undergoes Complete Redesign

Posted on February 2, 1998

Emphasizing efficiency, ease of use and depth of content, the Chicago Tribune announced the complete revamp of chicagotribune.com, its award-winning home on the World Wide Web.

In addition to the new design, the flexible, highly interactive site lets users choose to view a more "traditional" site (one very much like the previous version). In response to requests from vision-impaired users as well as those who prefer to surf with graphics turned off, a text-only version is also produced simultaneously.

According to Owen Youngman, director of interactive media for the Chicago Tribune, the new design "is revolutionary because it largely abandons the newspaper metaphor, concentrating on 'clicks' and 'pushes' rather than scrolling. It also brings both news and advertising to the top of our interface rather than forcing users to drill deep to find featured content.

The new design of chicago.tribune.com divides its vast storehouse of news and advertising information into seven top-level categories (news, sports, business, leisure, communities, marketplaces, and interactivity). While a context-sensitive, graphical site map helps users find their way around all of the Tribune's related Web products and services, a new navigation scheme is designed to send most Web surfers right to the content they're seeking -- such as the site's classified advertising sections: Chicago Tribune Homes, Chicago Tribune Autos, and Chicago Tribune CareerPath.