Redesign, day 2

Reader outrage over the Jumble has tempered, but we’re still hearing some sporadic complaints about the new design. Some are easy to resolve, such as the readers looking for “Hints from Heloise” (it doesn’t run every day) and Rebecca Nappi (her column doesn’t run on Tuesdays).

Others are a little more challenging.

Smaller space means less room in the business section for the stock report, so business editor Addy Hatch is whittling down the listings. She’s received about 20 calls today, with reaction “ranging from travesty to disappointment.” The reality is that newspapers are no longer the best and most accurate medium for stock reports, and many bigger dailies are dropping the listings altogether. This, however, is little comfort to some of our older readers, who don’t want to seek out the information online (incidentally, we don’t have a stock report on our site, but we’re looking into it. It’s kind of pricey).

Some readers have complained that the type is smaller and harder to read, which is curious, because the type is the same size as before. Some features, such as the briefs columns and the weather graphic, do have smaller type, and we’re reworking those to make them easier to read. Some readers have suggested a large-type edition, which would be wildly impractical on a daily basis, but Steve Smith said that a weekly large-type section might be within the realm of possibility.

All in all, though, the rollout has been largely successful. There’s a few design and production glitches that need to be worked out, but things should approach something resembling normalcy in a week or so.

Comments or questions on the redesign? Weigh in at News is a Conversation .