TechCrunch Deconstructed

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1. Here is a 2005 screenshot of the TechCrunch homepage from the Way Back Machine. A few insights:

   1. Design was soft and pleasant- quite a departure from the current brand. Perhaps revenue wised them up :).
   2. Three column approach was very "blog" focused.
   3. Structure of the page reduced emphasis on content.

   

   Bryan Zmijewski added this 8 months ago
2. More follow-up on previous designs:

   • TechCrunch's blog post about the 2008 redesign
   • Devlounge: Design Critique: The TechCrunch Redesign (2008)
   • TechCrunch's blog post about the 2006 redesign
   • TechCrunch Redesigns, The Emperor Has No Clothes (2006)
   • An argument for a footer design by Smiley Cat

   

   Bryan Zmijewski added this 8 months ago
3. Here is an early 2008 screenshot of the TechCrunch homepage from the Way Back Machine. A few insights:

   1. Logo remains a huge part of the design. I think they wised up. It doesn't pay the bills.
   2. Navigation was dominant.
   3. Headlines were still bold and in your face.

   

   Bryan Zmijewski added this 8 months ago
4. The 2008 homepage had a very self-important logo, but was also a much less busy page...made it easier to focus in on the content. A lot of the changes since then make sense from a revenue perspective, but bringing back at least a little of that simplicity would be great.

   

   Jonathan Smiley added this 8 months ago

   1. 1 Ad blindness keeps me from even noticing this section. Most active would be a cool thing to know (a sort of crowdsourced editorial section) but the ad makes me gloss right over it.
   2. 2 What might resolve it would be using a visual indicator or color to show the activity - the only indication of the actual activity is a very light grey line of text.
   3. 3 Agree with Bryan here - 6 lines all stacked up within about 20 pixels is overwhelming.

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