The Navy’s website has been redesigned, complete with a new template that places a greater emphasis on multimedia content while replacing the blue color scheme with the cold grey hue that dominates the fleet.
The redesigned site has the same content as the old one, but the new version is multitudes more interactive and plays up digital media much more than before. For example, both websites show photos of the Navy in action, but the new one plays them bigger and, with one click, brings you to a slideshow instead of the gallery found in the old version.
Additionally, video gets a better treatment. In the old version videos seemed more like they were clumsily embedded on the homepage. Now, however, there’s a sleek feature just for video – it seems more professional.
Furthermore, social media gets more play – in the old version Facebook and Twitter tabs look like they were added as a afterthought, not an original part of the design scheme. The new emphasis on social media may make good sense since the Navy uses the platforms not only to reach potential young recruits, but to build communities that keep Navy families tied into the service. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Google+, Flickr and the Navy’s blog all get some attention.
It seems that for the time being the redesign is limited to just navy.mil and its offshoots. Command pages haven’t been touched and still look similar to the old website. And if you don’t like the redesign because you can’t find anything you used to be able to locate in a half-second, just wait a week. For some reason revamped websites seem to become much more usable after a few days.
