Multimedia journalism

El Mundo plans ahead with launch of 2016 Olympics package

While the 2008 Chinese Olympics is still fresh on spectators’ minds, El Mundo is already thinking ahead … to 2016. Madrid, Spain is a contender for the 2016 Olympics, along with Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Doha, Qatar; Tokyo and Baku, Azerbaijan. In lieu of the announcement, El Mundo launched an interactive package detailing what this would mean for the capital.

With a single byline, this is a great example of how to make a simple story into an interactive presentation. No, this is not an award-winning package. But, I applaud El Mundo for recognizing the importance to invest in multimedia for even the day-to-day stories.

I enjoyed the opening animation, with the bold colors and smooth movements. The best part of this “intro” was the cursor animation informing the user how to navigate the site. I have always been a fan of depicting instructions in this manner, foregoing the traditional text instructions.

About half of the sports have great graphical depictions of the envisioned arenas. This was a nice addition, but I found myself expecting to see content every time, which probably hurt the overall experience.

The usability of the site could have been improved. For instance, once I click the icon from the top navigation, I should not have to click the icon again on the map to get the information. These additional clicks will tire the user more quickly, therefore reducing the possible time spent on the site.

Also, I have never been a fan of sound on buttons. The sound does not enhance the experience, so why add it? Maybe that’s just a personal preference of mine though …

Overall there are some strong concepts used in this package, and it is a great example for everyone else out there. You do not need to have a large multi-series story to produce a multimedia package. The investment is worth it, so give it a try with a smaller story that comes up and let me know how it goes!

Other posts that might interest you:

• New York Times sets bar high with multimedia coverage of the Olympics
• El Mundo wowed me with their Haiti multimedia coverage
• Solid 3D graphic production throughout National Geographic’s "Mapping Memory in 3D" interactive

© 18 January 2009 Innovative Interactivity (II).