Navigating audience engagement: The Guardian's strategic approach to its major redesign in over a decade
Fresh Take:
The British paper The Guardian recently gave its mobile app and homepage a significant makeover. The main goal? To offer a more exciting, tailored, and effortless digital experience for readers. The team crafted a revamped homepage suitable for both app and website users, striving to make it less overwhelming and more carefully selected.
The new Guardian app boasts a sleeker, streamlined "My Guardian" tab, a dedicated Audio section, and more puzzles. As for the website, its homepage prioritizes mobile users, considering that an astounding 75% of The Guardian's digital audience visits via a mobile device. A notable new addition is a swanky masthead highlights bar, designed to exhibit more journalism and non-news content.
We grabbed a chat with Jonathan Haynes, head of digital (platforms) at The Guardian, to learn more about the design overhaul. If you're seeking more web design inspiration, give our compilation of top web design tools a spin.
So, what prompted the decision to revamp the homepage and app?
Redesigning an interface frequented by many daily isn’t easy. What were the main challenges you faced?
Why shift stories above the title banner in the new design?
In this cutthroat competition of 2025, what's the secret to keeping users hooked?
Did audience feedback play a part in the new design, and if so, how?
Is there more tinkering in the design's future?
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- The redesign of The Guardian's homepage and app was inspired by the desire to provide a more exciting, tailored, and effortless digital experience for readers.
- Redesigning an interface used by many daily isn’t easy, with the main challenges faced being balancing functionality and aesthetics while ensuring consistency across platforms.
- In the new design, stories were shifted above the title banner to promote more journalism and non-news content, making it more prominent and engaging for users.
- In the cutthroat competition of 2025, keeping users hooked requires a continuous focus on providing a creative design, intuitive user experience, and visually appealing layout.
- Yes, audience feedback played a significant role in the new design, with feedback serving as a basis for decisions about color schemes, font choices, and overall usability improvements.
- There are plans for further tinkering in the design's future, as the team is committed to maintaining the quality and relevance of their user interfaces in the evolving landscape of web and mobile technology.
- For more design news, reviews, tips, and insights, sign up for our curated design news digest, bringing you the latest trends and updates from the world of design.
