Harvard Business Review redesigns website

Harvard Business Review has redesigned its website, which receives about 4 million unique visitors a month, in a bid to meet user needs.

The site, which was redesigned by Brooklyn digital agency Huge, adds 180 topic pages and gives readers the ability to create an online library of articles that interest them. It eliminates pagination from articles and has a design that is more suitable for phones and tablets.

The redesign, the first for the site since 2010, was quietly rolled out last month and includes a new access model. People can go to the website and read five articles a month for free, but if they provide their email address through a registration, they are given access to 15 articles per month. The idea is to drive print and online subscriptions, said Eric Hellweg, managing director, digital and editorial director of Harvard Business Review

“What we were really looking to do is advance our digital presence and continue the evolution of the brand,” said Hellweg in an interview with Talking Biz News.

The reading experience on old site “wasn’t where it needed to be,” said Hellweg, because of a clunky design and pagination. So the article pages were redesigned.

“It made a lot of sense at the time when were trying to grow an online advertising model, but it goes against the reading experience,” said Hellweg. “Aesthetically, it reads better.”

Other new features include easier access to HBR’s archive of more than 25 years of management thinking; personalized content and product recommendations; an activity log so readers can track what they’ve read, watched, shared, and bought in the last six months; and a one-click payment option for HBR Press books, toolkits, and other products

Hellweg said the next step for the site is examining what other digital options can be provided for readers, such as exclusive access to webinars to a graphics library.

“A lot of what we’re trying to do is people love our ideas, but they need help translating them into their work lives,” said Hellweg. “So we need to help them connect the dots.”