WSJ Redesigns with Reader’s Guide
January 2nd, 2007
With the new year comes a redesigned Wall Street Journal newspaper. Understanding that WSJ readers might need assistance with the change, the paper produced an 8-page reader’s guide to explain:
Good newspaper design has always been a combination of utility and aesthetics. But never has getting that mix right been more important.
Today’s readers are inundated with information, 24 hours a day. Many of them come to their newspaper already knowing the main headlines, looking for interpretation and understanding of events or for “discovery” news—things they didn’t already know but are glad to learn. They want both substance and efficiency.
Download the Reader’s Guide. (PDF)
Update: I’m told the print edition of the Wall Street Journal is free today.
January 3rd, 2007 at 9:27 am
I find this line particularly interesting. It suggests that the role of papers is changing from a discovery/description mechanism to a summarize/analyze mechanism.
Reading tech news on the major papers is always a disappointment for me, because bloggers cover things far more in-depth. Perhaps papers are going to start having more specialized writers (and bloggers), who don’t have to introduce a topic every time they write about it.
January 4th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Jared, I’m confused. Are you mocking this or are you praising it?
Does anyone even read user guides anymore? Did they ever? If they don’t for their microwave ovens, why would they for, of all things, a newspaper?
If the thing needs a user guide then it must be unusable, right?
Help me on this, please! With a user guide to understanding Jared Spool’s sense of humor, perhaps.