VIA Interaction

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The first cutting-edge Whitehouse.gov

Barack Obama's campaign was the very model of a Web 2.0 marketing campaign. Every action the campaign took online was designed to connect people and build on those connections.

President Obama unveiled whitehouse.gov today, and the administration has carried that ethic from its campaigning to its governing.

Some notes about the site:

• A large, welcoming visual dominates
• The main navigation categories are fairly clear, so the drop-down navigation is not too much of an impediment to finding things
• The most opaque navigation element, "The Agenda," is helped by the inclusion of deep links to key administration positions, in the center of the home page
  
• The blog is the primary tool for updating the home page
• The home page scrolls!
  
• At the bottom of the page an exposed navigation serves as a site map and gives visitors a quick assessment of the site's breadth and content (and again, helps overcome the inherent difficulties presented by menu navigation).
  
• Prominent (though below the fold!) featuring of video
• Easy sign up for email updates.
  

I would not be suprised to see the design of the search box change over time. Right now it blends into the background a little more than I bet they want.

This site has clearly been designed by Web experts, not just Web professionals. Like the people in eCommerce, where every click is money, political campaigns have honed their Web skills in a crucible. They don't have much use for theory or respect for the traditions of their elders in print design.

I am sure we will see this site changing to reflect what the visitors' usage patterns tell them, and also to integrate new technologies. Remember, when George W. Bush and John Kerry were running there was no YouTube.

posted by Tim Beidel at 1/20/2009 03:54:00 PM

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