PBS' New Website: Better Usability, But What About Getability?

[Garth Moore]

I like some PBS shows and I've always supported public broadcasting. But, I've never liked the PBS website. Take a trip in Wayback Machine and you can why I've never been a big fan of the website. For a progressive network, they never really seemed to get the Web and the principles of design. Why is a website design important? First impressions. When pushing social media circles, it's always good to have an online flagship to anchor the online influence. PBS never seemed to have it.
This week, a few Twitter posts about PBS' new website made me run over to my laptop to see what they produced, especially with our focus on the network for class. My first impression.... not bad. They seemed to get a few principles of modern design with a simplified navigation, large content features, and user-generated content such as blog posts and keyword searches. They're finally understanding usability. But, they missed a crucial aspect of promoting the assets for what makes the network a prime communicator: video. Where's the video on the homepage? Where are the comments on the video and the embed source? Again, PBS has buried their intellectual capital.

What is "getability"? Getability is the concept that users know instantly what your website is about and what you can do for them. In other words, they “get it”. It is designing your site with your customer in mind, and speaking directly to them by demonstrating that you are the solution to their problem. So, who gets it? Check out Current.tv or npr.org. These two competitors understand exactly what their audiences need right on their homepages, whether it's videos, comment, rankings, or news and information.

I don't know if PBS performed focus groups or surveyed constituents; they could have even brought in the top architects and designs in the business. But, they left off the main act, and that, I don't get.

[Allegra Giorgia]

Marianne - You are right about the budget issue. As for the actualy site, I wouldn't call it antiquated. The PBS re-design is a huge improvement on their previous site. And they are trying with video -- http://www.pbs.org/video/. What they are not doing is making it as easy as possible for people to get all the information in one spot - but unfortunately this will always be a problem for them due to the dynamics of all the member stations and producers. It seems as though they are begin pressured to direct visitors to each individual program site - Frontline, POV etc. versus hosting those videos in one area. This will hurt them in the long run because it really strains on the usability front. Garth, you're right. The Getability just isn't quite there yet.

[Marianne]

Sometimes site designs are impacted by the amount of money companies have and are willing to spend. This might be another reason why the PBS site is cumbersome or antiquated. Focus groups would be useful, but again this cost money and for a public television station that now also has to compete with online programming, the funds aren't always available.

[Douglas Davidson]

I know this has been one of the biggest problems I've had with our projects this semester. Figuring out how to maneuver around the site took forever and forget trying to learn anything about the program. I hadn't even learned about PBS Engage until the day of our client meeting. The site, once you've figured out where the information is, is easy, but getting is like a labyrinth. Users shouldn't have to work so hard to find out a little bit of information - particularly if the company is a broadcaster and the information is regarding the programing. I should be able to find show information with no trouble whatsoever. I have to agree with Lauren - not everybody gets it, but at least with Engage, PBS is starting too. Easy in doesn't always mean easy out, but difficult in, always does.

[Lauren Tanner]

Sometimes people are too close to their projects and forget to take a step back and look at them from the outsider's perspective. Obviously someone at PBS thought their site was a good idea, or did not care enough to focus on the design and user friendliness. Regardless, there are a lot of sites that suffer from this problem and generally the problem stems from company priorities. PBS seems to be working towards improving their getability.