With Tivo, always-on web access and the delayed Olympic broadcasts, I think every site needs to implement a spoiler alert feature.  I’ve mocked it up below.

I’ve accidentally seen all the major Olympics results before I could watch it.

I am a huge fan of the New York Times web site and the more time I spend on it, the more pleasant surprises I see. Needless to say, the reporting is top notch as it has been historically. But specific to the web site: I think the design is perfect for their site. It is easy to read and conveys a lot of information quickly. On those days with big news, the site easily accommodates major headlines that conveys urgency and prominence.

But more importantly, nytimes.com takes advantage of being on the web by doing much more than just repurpose text and images. The site includes a ton of video, audio, slideshows and applications that are very informative and/or helpful. Here are a few of many standouts:

While I watch CNN for their analysis and their cool touchscreen maps, I come to the New York Times for their Delegate Maps. The county-by-county information is updated as quickly for the readers as it is for their own editors. It’s very cool.

Their audio and visual slideshows can be a lot of fun. Their writers are not always the most dynamic personalities but the audio certainly adds a good perspective.

This is a fun and simple application to see the Top Surnames in the US. The information design is terrific (larger fonts denote higher rank). My surname doesn’t make the Top 5,000 but my wife’s is in the Top 500.

This is another example of an information application that the New York Times has done well. This is an application to help you figure out if you are better off renting or buying. Depending on when you bought your house, you will be either like or hate its findings.

The New York Times spent several months with updates on Life After Katrina. The stories are nicely displayed here on this map.

And when the New York Times started publishing blogs of their own, I found them immediately useful.

Now, not all is perfect with the New York Times. In fact, they have probably my biggest pet peeve on the Web. If you click into a story off the front page and then double-click on any word or phrase, a pop-up window will appear that shows a “reference search” for that word or phrase. Now, I am a “clicker” by habit; I will just click on a web page for no reason whatsoever. On the nytimes web site, that means I am poppping up useless windows left and right. This is a bad attempt, or should I say dirty trick, on generating pageviews with ads.

But other than that (huge) nit, I find myself spending more time on the New York Times web site than ever before. Nicely done.

I spend a lot of time on my computer and using tons of software. And there are certain software features that make me smile and some that make me grumble bad words (ask Dan who sits a few feet away from me in the office). Here are my current poster children for a terrible flaw and a delightful feature.

Grrrr…. The Annoying Flaw

I usually try not to negatively comment on irritating features. I’ve been in the software business for many years and I have been associated with my fair share of poorly implemented features and design. But this one really bothers me.

The culprit is Quickbooks 2006. It is generally pretty good but has a few shortcomings, some which seem to be there for the sole reason for you to buy one of their services (I am looking at you, Quickbooks Payroll Service).

So there is data entry in an accounting package, right? OK, there are numbers to be entered, right? And the numbers in an accounting package tend to be currency, right? So what the @#%$^%@*# does Quickbooks considers a number with a dollar sign (like $10) to be invalid???!! This really really slays me. I copy numbers from spreadsheets and online banking pages into Quickbooks all the time and I have to delete the $ sign. Come on, people!

Thoughtful Software Design… ahhhhh…

Just thinking about a well-designed feature will calm me down. Thoughtful software design is very tough and my example for a useful, clever and probably relatively easy to program (great combination here) feature is the ability to click and drag a route in Google Maps to change driving directions.

In my example below, I plot a map from San Mateo to Oakland. It recommends going over the San Mateo Bridge. If I wanted to go up the Peninsula first and then over the Bay Bridge, I merely click on the route and drag it towards the route I wish to go.

The feature is obvious, gives good feedback and is even fun. Try it; I know you will like it. Yahoo Maps also supports the same feature now.

I have been involved in several business intelligence, metrics and content companies.  This means I better love information design.  Luckily, I do.  I am a big fan of typefaces, user interfaces and information design.  A site that I visit regularly to satisfy my interest is information aesthetics.

The site led me to these two Youtube videos, both worth watching if you are a like information design and/or type.

The first video is a New York Times video on an art installation in the lobby of the New York Times of over 500 small screens which display information from the New York Times archive.

[found via information aestehtics]

The other video is a fun music video illustrated with typefaces! Check it out.

[found via information aestehtics]

I am a daily reader and a big fan of the Wall Street Journal paper. Over the past few years, the Journal has not been hesitant to make changes. They redesigned their layout a couple years ago. They added a Personal Journal section. They started a Weekend Edition. With each major change or addition, I held my breath and wanted to know how my experience was going to change. The redesign of an icon is not to be taken lightly.

I’ve liked the changes they have made in the past. Surprisingly, I read the Journal as much for pleasure as for business. If you had asked me if that were possible ten years ago, I would have said no.

So when the Journal made a huge design change on Jan 2, I once again braced myself. There were a lot of initial thoughts that were negative. Some thought the smaller paper felt less substantial (I did too, at first). Others felt that profits were trumping experience (print newspaper are facing so many challenges that I expect papers to try to cut costs).

I did not want to come out with an immediate judgment. People generally are uncomfortable with change.

As the two weeks came to pass, my blog post was supposed to say something along the lines: I am fine with the redesign. I do like the smaller size for convenience reasons; I still feel that it gives ups an intangible heft-ness. It felt easier to read; the content remained good. Basically, no harm, but no great breakthroughs. Summary: boy, it must hard to redesign icons.

But earlier today, I read a front page article in the Journal (subscription needed, sorry) titled: “An Immigration Raid Aids Blacks — For a Time.” This article documents the changes in a company town when federal immigration agents chased out a mostly Hispanic workforce and made opportunities for local African-Americans.

It was a fascinating read. Uncomfortable at times, revealing, stark, worrisome, maybe even inflammatory. But it was brave and it was IMPORTANT. I encourage people to pick up today’s Journal and read that story.

After reading that story, any post on redesign seemed small. So tomorrow and next week and next month, I will pick up the Journal, not because of its width or font or layout, but because of its proven ability to publish important stories.

[Image from the terrific site newsdesigner.com]