After more than six months of careful planning the redesign of The Australian Business website went live on the 18^th October.

The new business site design was conceived through a comprehensive understanding of user needs for financial information. Contextual enquiry during the research phase lead by Dennis Nordstrom identified a clear user need for the delivery of a wide breadth and depth of world financial information in an Australian context.

Creating the site structure during the collaborative design session

In content terms the site needed to integrate the full business editorial resources of the national newspaper and in a News Corporation first be underpinned by contextual content/market data from other global properties such as The Wall Street Journal, The Times, Dow Jones and MarketWatch.

Therefore the mission from a user experience perspective was to successfully convey the huge volume of financial information available in a fashion that did not overwhelm or confuse.

Collaborative design sketch by Dennis Nordstrom & Alun Machin

The final product design concept was based around a simple contextual three column based solution for the vast majority of site sections. Editorial content is primary displayed in the left column, comparative market data/tools are placed in the centre column and supporting analysis, opinion and multimedia in the right hand column.

The final result

The site also introduces a whole new raft of features including:

• A snapshot of the key markets, currencies and commodities around the world at the top of every site page
• New areas focusing on World Business News, Financial Markets, Industry Sectors, Mining & Energy, Media, Opinion, Wealth and Executive Lifestyle
• Expanded editorial coverage and contextual market data for industry sectors such as Property and Aviation
• Interactive company charting showing key events and trading data such as dividend payments, trading volume underpinned with contextual news reports
• Comprehensive background information on all ASX-listed Australian companies plus data on stocks, stock market indices, currencies and commodities
• Suggested company name functionality when searching for stock quote information
• Display of previously searched company stock quotes
• ‘Story behind the story’ in-depth coverage on major issues such as the current global financial crisis

For further information on the new website a comprehensive guide is available to view in PDF format.

If you have any feedback (both positive and negative) or questions concerning the new site please leave a comment.