What in the world?

Posted on May 4, 2007 by Melissa Worden

Since I was sick this week, I missed most of the popular “Where in the world is Matt Lauer?” series on the Today Show.

So I headed over to today.msnbc.com to catch up.

And I was disappointed with this interactive, the first link I found off their homefront.

Firstly, the location markers on the interactive graphic are hard to see. Clicking on one, brings up a horizontal bar of video links. Click on one of those and grab your knitting needles. You’ll have time to make a sweater while you wait for the video to open in MSNBC.com’s beta video player. (Other videos on the site open up much faster, so I don’t know why these take so long.)

Yay! for it being in Flash, but Boo! for it being in a pop-up window that is divorced from the thoughtful design of the original package.

And I don’t get any other resources about these places? Just video reports from Matt’s TV appearances?

Then I scrolled to the last link on the page and found the series’ section front.

Aha … more information. Almost too much. This page is crammed full.

And now I’m confused. What’s the point of a separate interactive that showcases video when all the video already is listed on the section front?

Then I stumbled upon this interactive that has some fun games and such. But why isn’t it in the “interactive” box with the other graphic?

Text stories are a mess of information, too. I think it could have been better organized as blog entries, such as USATODAY.com’s Bly on the fly series.

Hmpf. If I’m having a hard time figuring this out and putting together pages like this is my full-time job, what’s a reader to think?

Comments

3 Responses to “What in the world?”

Mindy McAdams on May 5th, 2007 9:05 am

When I saw the graphic of the map and the passport, I felt very optimistic that the package would be interesting. The first impression was great.

And then, nothing but disappointment.

Even if the video had loaded (I waited for 90 seconds; it never did load, on DSL), it was still not really a package. It turned out to be a splash page. It doesn’t really contain any content!
Patrick B on May 7th, 2007 7:19 am

Better question: Why were you seeking information about Matt Lauer? (I kid, I kid!)
Charlie Stone on May 7th, 2007 10:20 am

Nice blog…thanks for the read.

Charlie