NewsGator is our favorite RSS feed reader. However, we think the NewsGator website's usability has suffered lately. It's just not as easy to log into your account and get right to your feeds. In fact, the NewsGator website commits a major web usability mistake by making us "Think!" We tell you why and what NewsGator should do about it.
Why the NewsGator website is failing NewsGator Online users
We'll clear something right up before we dive into our review. We're talking about the NewsGator website not the actual feed readers that the company provides. Specifically, we're focusing on the "free" NewsGator Online feed reader. This is web-based and is very simple and intuitive to use. Getting to it is another story.
The NewsGator website fails existing and potential NewsGator Online users, because the majority of the home pages and secondary pages are trying to market its other products and provide too much information. There simply is too much going on the home page and the site actually throws obstacles in your path when you attempt to login.
On the Newsgator home page, there is an image of the graphic user interface that is hard to read and no separation or clear channel for existing users to get to their news feeds. Enough said, go ahead and take a look a the NewsGator home page below. You have two seconds to find these places. Times up!
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Ok, you found it, but seriously, there's still a lot going on this page. There's the "obvious" Sign in and a banner of text that we've highlighted below. The image and sign in material all run together. We would have preferred a very distinctive channel or box that focuses users on one of two tasks--- either create a new account or login to your existing account.
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Now you can sign in and be taken to your reader.
You fill in your id and password and you go to your news feeds. Right? Nope, instead of being taking where you expect to go, you're told that there are changes to NewsGator. The focal point here is a person with a Big Megaphone. If you're like me, you're pretty confused and are stopped right in your tracks as discussed in "Don't Make Me Think," an excellent usability resources. Personally I really don't care to read about the changes unless they are going to start charging for the service! Fortunately they are not. Also, I would rather experience the changes first hand instead of reading about them.
Anyway, your eyes scan the page for the magic link to take you to your news feeds. If you have the eyes of a hawk, you will find it in the upper left hand corner in very small text and at the bottom of the page well below the fold.
The Solution- Offer Users Simple, Big and Obvious Choices
Anyone that is selling a service or software on the Internet if faced with the challenge of attracting new customers and serving the needs of existing customers. We think that NewsGator can do a lot better by cleaning up the website and make it much easier to get to where existing customers want to go. We offer MySpace.com and Paytrust.com as examples.
When you click on MySpace.com, your senses are assaulted/embraced (depends on your age) by the lots of advertisements and things to do. One thing stands out, however, and that's the Member Login box. You either login or you can enroll as a new member. It is that simple. You are not told about what's new in MySpace. With Paytrust.com, existing and new customers are provided with three large and obvious options- Sign in, Learn More or Enroll. both new and existing users are served well by this simple but elegant design.
Why a simple access is important
NewsGator needs to do the same with its website and get its existing NewsGator Online users to their feeds. Of course, some of you may argue that the above inconvenience is a small price to pay for a "free" service. We disagree. Everything about the usability of NewsGator's website sheds light on its underlying products. We think that the company's decision to offer a free news reader is merely a hook to get people to sign up for higher
end products. Nothing wrong with that at all.
NewsGator has to remember though that many people are referred to their website by existing NewsGator users. I actually expound the benefits of RSS and news feed readers and refer newbies and skeptics to the NewsGator website to try the free service. That's why the NewsGator website has to be very intuitive and easy to use for both newbies and casual users alike.
Instead of getting in the way of new and existing users, NewsGator could provide some links to new features once users get their news feeds.
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