I think that this is an interesting move by USA Today. I really like the design of the new beta, it feels elegant. Feels very much like an iPad app that you can access from a desktop. The focus is much more on quick consumption and small nuggets of news. It is image rich and timely with the "right now" section. I think they are headed in the right direction. What are everyone's thoughts?

I hadn't even heard of it. It's a pretty web app, so it has that going for it.

I think it just launched today or yesterday.

I think the new USA Today site is a shift back to a like design with the daily stocks and weather right beside the main content. However, the site is also interactive, allowing you to easily jump into the next story which has the power to keep people browsing for quite some time. Overall, I think it is a great direction for the company.

@Scott I would completely agree. I love how it is now a pleasurable and non-overwhelming experience to read through it. Anyone checked out the cover view yet? Pretty slick... beta.usatoday.com

That looks great and reminds me of Flipboard which also takes cues from print magazines.

I was a big fan of the new Ipad app redesign. The interface looks clean and sleek. It seemed to be much more intuitive to switch between topics of the "paper"

The redesign reminds me of the Gawker.com redesign. The initial page is much more well designed, but as soon as articles start "popping up" it feels a lot less like a news paper outlet and a lot more like wonderwall.msn.com by MSN.

@Scott's probably right about the potential to keep people browsing, but I personally don't like it. The interface actually feels like it's keeping me from discovering content I want to read about. _Looks_ good, though...

It looks like the video player still uses Flash. Come on, this isn't 2003, guys!

@Scott totally agree on the flash thing...
@Braden I am on the fence on the "popup" articles. It seems like it could be useful to jump in and out of articles quickly but then again it doesn't suggest permanence of the article.

One of the biggest things about the new layout is that they've proposed a new ad format, just one large ad on the section home pages. It doesn't pop up too often either and can be easily hidden. They've struck a nice balance between content and advertising, which is easy on the eyes.

adage.com
Wolff Olins worked on the print redesign and Fantasy Interactive partnered with USA Today to produce the new design and user interface of its digital products.

More on the print version
creativereview.co.uk

@travis I like the idea of the pop-up articles. If you're a news reader on a particular section and you're wanting to read it all, why not keep you in an article view instead of bouncing page to page or view to view. Just keep focusing on what you're doing and they'll do the rest for you.

Has anyone tried this on older browsers to see how it degrades? I would be curious.

@Chad I think I'm leaning towards liking the pop-up articles. I think that it allows you to check out an article or skim an article without losing the context of where you were. It feels much more like reading an actual newspaper does, scanning a page then focusing in on one section, then going back to scanning.