Al Jazeera English

Background

Al Jazeera English is a leading global news website that provides up-to-date news and information from around the world. While I was a member of the New Media department, we undertook to redesign the website completely in concert with the editorial team.

AJE’s site was outdated, with an information architecture that no longer fit the types of content it was trying to display. Additionally, it completely lacked responsiveness in its design, using instead a mobile version (m.aljazeera…) to service smaller screens. The homepage was not organized logically due to legacy negotiations between departments seeking to highlight their content.

Challenge

Working with external design vendor, redesign the entire Al Jazeera English website to promote the ideals of responsive design and react to various levels of severity in the news, whilst bringing the design standard up to modern levels.

Solution

To address these challenges, a user-centric, responsive, and dynamic redesign was necessary. A full content audit was conducted, and a new information architecture was created. We engaged Mark Boulton Design to ensure that the redesign was user-friendly, responsive, and dynamic. We implemented the option to use one of three different homepage layouts at any time, depending on the severity of the main story, to ensure that the most important news was prominently displayed and with sufficient screen real estate.

The redesign also included a new homepage design that balanced the needs of various departments while recognizing the new information architecture. As a result of these efforts, Al Jazeera English now boasts a modern and engaging website that delivers news and information in a user-centric, responsive, and dynamic manner. The redesign received praise from users and industry experts alike, cementing Al Jazeera English’s reputation as a leader in the news industry.