Website Redesign Examples

http://www.netmagazine.com/features/net-awards-2011-top-10-redesigns

IMPORTANCE OF TARGET USER

.Net Magazine has an article on the Top Ten best website redesigns in 2011. One website redesign that stood out was the redesign of the CBBC website - conducted by the BBC itself. 

The focus was really on the target user's for the redesign as they wanted ages 6-12 of both genders to be able to engage in the aspects of the channel that mattered to each user the most. This would be a hard task, as each age and gender of user would probably have a different idea of what is engaging as a website.

Obviously there was a lot of background research into browsing habits of these users and it was found that most rely on Google to search - meaning accessibility was also vital to the site being successful. It was also found that users of this age do not like change throughout a website and that it was neccessary for smaller, gradual changes from each page. 

The design principle adopted was to have aspirational visuals and then a simple and straightforward interaction and navigation, allowing all users to find what they are looking for.
It seems after testing, that the new site was constructed well for most of their target market. The tests suggested that it was "equally exciting to a six-year-old girl as an 11-year-old boy" - which is considered a great achievement. 

BEFORE REDESIGN

AFTER REDESIGN

I think this redesign shows the importance of researching and focusing on your target market as well as the content on the actual site. Obviously both need to be taken into consideration to create a decent site, but if either is lacking then the site will be very unsuccessful.