The Good, The Bad, and the CNN

CNN.com.
There's so much to be said about it. But for all intensive purposes, let's stick to what's been asked of us, shall we?

What they do well:

The homepage top navigation bar is very simple and easy to use. For the most part, the top is not bogged down by an overabundance of graphics, minimizing load up time. The top stories are clearly listed and available for further inspection. There are many options to connect to interactive media, including video and audio. The stories also have highlights of its important facts, which positively serves people looking for even quicker news fixes.

What does it not do well:

There aren't as many images or good photos on the homepage, which many find useful in attracting readers to stories. The layout of the text is quite jumbled together, and is not sectioned off with enough space from each other. Story highlights also render the actual articles somewhat obsolete, being that many readers wish only to scan for particular in the first place.

Interactivity:

The Pipeline allows users full interactive media capabilities in getting the news. At the bottom of articles are various options, whether it is to "email", "print", or "save" the news stories, which is a cool feature for users to utilize. Home page polls and surveys also enhance CNN.com in becoming incredibly user interactive.

Link to Other Websites:

Various links to CNN.com's international site, television programs, and transcripts are readily available for users to access. Other advertiser links, including ones for careerbuilder.com, yahoo.com and orbitz are also present, but for other purposes.

What Extent Do People Use:

This would be an ideal site for multiple purposes. Story highlights allow users to simply get the main facts of particular stories, and allow them to expand and read further into them as well. Interactive features such as streaming audio and video also assist the user in getting information. Polls and surveys also allow others to guage user opinion, which increases interactivitiy. Mild-news to heavy-news seekers would use CNN.com effectively.