Comments on: E Tu Essence?: An Exercise in Bad Site Design

By: Gawker Redesign Brings Outage and Mixed Reviews | Black Web 2.0

Gawker Redesign Brings Outage and Mixed Reviews | Black Web 2.0 — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:07:31 +0000

[...] were none too thrilled when Essence redesigned their site a while back. Twitter completely revamped their homepage, forcing many Twitter developers to [...]

By: Time Inc. Peers into Digital Crystal Ball and Future Looks Good « Black Web 2.0

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:14:24 +0000

[...] Illustrated’s sister publication Essence. As you know, I’m not fond of the current layout on Essence.com. I’d much rather have a consistent style guide that runs across the digital [...]

By: ALONZO

ALONZO — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:06:14 +0000

What I am particularly disappointed in is not just that the new site is aesthetically disappointing but functionally disappointing as well.

I have been a member of Essence's message board community for over a year now. It seems however that Essence has overlooked the value of having members discuss issues on its site. I've been wondering why they've never gotten a moderator to help lead some of the discussions or ask the community about topics that were featured or should be featured in the magazine.

Instead they have progressively made the COMMUNITY button smaller and it now takes at least two clicks of the mouse to get to the discussion topics.

One large wasted opportunity to actually connect with readers IMHO.

By: HoneyMag Gets a Clear Focus in it’s Latest Redesign « Black Web 2.0

HoneyMag Gets a Clear Focus in it’s Latest Redesign « Black Web 2.0 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:01:31 +0000

[...] for African-American women have redesigned lately. Surely you remember the hoopla that surrounded Essence magazine’s redesign and the layoff of a large portion of their digital staff nearly a week later. Clutch Magazine [...]

By: Jamie

Jamie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:08:05 +0000

Wow, it looks terrible now.

By: The ESSENCE of the Matter…IMO « Blacks Behaving Badly

The ESSENCE of the Matter…IMO « Blacks Behaving Badly — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:40:19 +0000

[...] UponGoogle Journalsticks is reporting that after relaunching their Website last week into a more blog-like look, Essence magazine laid off its Web team today citing budgetary [...]

By: Essence Lays Off Digital Team

Essence Lays Off Digital Team — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:25:25 +0000

[...] After relaunching their website last week, Essence magazine laid off its web team today citing budgetary reasons. [...]

By: stephaniedanforth

stephaniedanforth — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:38:20 +0000

Also, I would think that the recent troubles that Ebony/Jet has been experiencing would prompt Essence.com to move towards embracing those readers instead of those that only look at pictures.

P.S. Nothing against those that only look at photos but I need substance.

By: stephaniedanforth

stephaniedanforth — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:32:51 +0000

While I understand your frustrations, I'm going to attempt to be a fence straddler for a moment. I don't like the new design either. As an editor of an eMagazine I appreciate a site that has more to offer than just big flashy photos and one liner. I appreciate in depth columns with topics that cater to my life as opposed to the lives of celebrities. However, if I am Essence (the magazine) not .com, I'm thinking "Why would a person visiting us online feel the need to subscribe to the magazine if they can visit Essence.com and get the same if not similar articles."
From a business standpoint, the new format is a good move because it now caters to their readers but in a different way. For those of us who love visiting Essence.com daily...it sucks!!

By: iluvblackwomen

iluvblackwomen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:11:47 +0000

interesting debate to scroll down or not to scroll down? personally i would rather see essence.com stay away from following the crowd. I believe its like music, books, very few in media are willing to blaze the trail on their own terms.