If you haven’t heard of theRoot.com, it is a recently launched joint venture between the Washingtonpost.com and Newsweek Interactive lead by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. as the EIC. Gates is also the co-founder of AfricanDNA.com which also powers theRoot.com genealogy or Roots section of the site.

While in general sites that adhere to a minimalist design are appealing, this site seems almost unfinished. This is most likely intentional, as it ends up making the focus on the content. What I do particularly like about the site’s design is its use of branches found in family trees across the site as well as its use of custom iconography. The user experience, as a whole, could be more engaging. For instance, there is an ample amount of video in the Roots section that could be showcased on the homepage to better help engage the user. Both the News and Views sections of the site are predictable yet familiar for the user, with the exception of the four column layout on those pages. A lot of great content, but it almost seems hidden within all the columns. Anther thing that is hidden is the ability to preview articles, every article in the center news column has 2 options below it ‘Preview’ and ‘Read.’ While an attempt to place emphasis on the ‘Preview’ link has been made by making the word bold, it seem like more should have been done to call out such a valuable feature. Overall I would have liked to see a bit more design applied to the site, contrary to belief minimalism is not an easy design style to master.