MSN's New Home Page Embraces Female Friendly Design

MSN is rolling out a new home page design.  I checked out a preview. What I find most interesting is that the new home page includes many design elements that appeal to women.

Here's the new MSN home page design

Here's the old MSN homepage design

 

How the new MSN home page design is female friendly

Research has shown there are certain design elements that are persuasive and pleasing to women.   The new MSN home page has tapped into some of those design aesthetics.

Open elements vs. boxed elements

I've seen this in many of the websites targeting women.   Designers are making elements less boxed off, more open.  They are using more white space and fewer lines separating elements. While men's brains are more compartmentalized, women's brains look at things more holistically.  

Truvia is a an example of greater use of white space and open design elements

Compare this to Sony's website with elements that are more clearly boxed off

Brighter colors other than blue

Many websites rely on tried and true blue.  Seriously.  Blue, grey, black - these are the colors you'll find on many sites today.  These are cooler colors that men prefer. 

Women respond to warmer colors and prefer more colors in their design.   The new MSN home page got rid of much of their blue and even has brighter colors in the top navigation.

  

It will be interesting to see how the new design is received.  As with any change in design, there can be initial discomfort.  But I find the new design to be cleaner, simpler, better laid out, and, yes, more female friendly.

Read more about what design elements appeal to men and  to women. 

See examples of other websites designed for women. 
 

  

Comments

[Sara Anderson]

Pretty incredible changes there! I definitely like the new layout better, and it is more definitely more female friendly :) (I think the light background makes the written material easier to read as well.) Interesting to see the comparison of the soft pastels of MSN and Truvia's websites to the masculine colors of the Sony website. Great post and insight Holly.

[Mary Dean/ KickSkirt]

It is so much better designed, although I'm still wanting the edges of their grid pattern rounded off. I always tell clients: 1) When in doubt, leave it out. 2) Go sans serif on type 3) Never use black type -- opt for Charcoal or Iron instead as it's still readable but more soothing 3) Round and soft beats sharp and square to a woman's eyes
Holly I am trying to remember the one design book I've seen that actually studied how women react to design. It was only in print briefly and I wanted to hunt it down. You wouldn't happen to know would you? (And by the way, how are you???) Thanks in advance if you know the name of the book. It wasn't about web design, but so many of the findings would apply
Oh, and I LOVE the looks of the Truvia site. Thanks for this post

[zee]

Love this post, the timing couldn't have been any better! We're currently tweaking our website -- improving the content and maybe changing the design later on. We're a soon to be launched eco-clothing company targeting women and I'm really glad I stumbled upon your site -- your discussion about what women really want when it comes to web design is really helpful. Will definitely keep your tips and sample sites in mind when we do get to the redesign part. :)

[Holly Buchanan]

Sara - Yes - from what I'm hearing women are really digging the new site. Glad you like it as well.

Mary, thanks for adding your insight. Dead-on. The book you refer to is Gender, Design and Marketing by Gloria Moss - you can read about it here - http://marketingtowomenonline.typepad.com/blog/2009/06/new-book-focuses-on-gender-design-and-marketing.html

Zee - good luck with your new eco-clothing company!

[Anandha Kumar]

hey holly! its a pretty interesting stuff that you have out there! i am an indian graphic designer myself, and am currently doing my thesis on graphic design for women, so during my 'google search', i came across your webpage! i must say, pretty brilliant! i love the way that you have made navigation so easy! really nice! a big thank you! :)

[turnstile]

Hey,Loving your blog, awesome tips on this you have here. Iwould just like to ask you some questions privately, mind

[Minnetonka fence]

Well don't know whats going on but its not a Good way to do this. in my opinion we have to look again about this issue

[comment system]

The new design is much more friendly and inviting, and I'm a man. I think an open design is much better and natural to the eye, and it can be suitable for man. Thanks for the interesting post.

[Adam Dukes]

I have been considering making some changes to my site to make it more marketable to both women and men, but I will take these tips into consideration. Thank you!

[web development]

sometimes a website's color adds appeal. a friend asked me before to pick w/c color combinations would be best for his site. i chose the dark colors, im a lady, probably because i found it suitable for what the website is which is all about cars.

and i guess i made the right choice because it's still the color of his site up to this day.

[Wordpress Development]

pretty and nice design..unlike before. the new design is more female friendly :) love it! :)

[Cash gifting leads]

Maybe its because women like buying things the design is becoming more female friendly. Also more women sit on the internet, the most number of bloggers in the world are mothers so maybe now its the web designers or developers who are women.

[website designer]

These are all excellent posts. thanks for the links. You seem to be reading day and night looking for good stuff to post.
I feel your blog really useful and inspiring me. Thank you.

[wordpress theme design]

Very interesting article. When I first looked at the new design I didn't really understand why would you say it's more "female friendly", but after reading post I can totally see it.
But I have to say the Truvia site is female-friendly on an all new level! :)

[android honeycomb tablet]

Almost 2 years on and it seems nowadays there's less focus on design and more on social integration. Thoughts?