• Top of the page is divided into 3 (occaisionally 4) sections, each containing news in a specific category.  The categories change as the most current news changes. Main stories have a summary, usually a picture, and other stories usually have a brief synopsis. Some also have links below the synopsis to videos or other stories.  MSNBC Homepage 
• Scrolling on down the page, you come to sections for other news categories. Each category has its own box and, by default, is separated into three sections displaying one top story and its synopsis on the left, links to seven other stories in the center, and links to two multimedia stories on the right. The number of stories displayed can be customized by the user to show 0, 5, 10, or 15 stories in the box. Different topics within the category may also be selected from a menu on the far left-hand side of the box.
• The most useful of the navigational tools is the sidebar that lists individual categories without headlines cluttering up the options. Below the categories is a "Browse" section containing ‘video', ‘photos', and ‘community' subheads. By hovering over these you can see the top stories under each of these categories. The problem is that these tools get lost on the page because they are not visible when the home page opens and by the time you scroll down to them your eye is drawn to the boxes and all the pictures. You have to scroll through all the boxes to see the news categories and your eyes constantly dart all over the place with all the pictures and headlines. The navigation bar would be far more useful if it were visible at the top of the homepage. I still think the boxes are a great way of organizing and allowing the user to see what's going on, I just think any user looking to find something quickly would be a little bit overwhelmed by all the excess information.

• Video

1.  Online video of actual newscasts:
There are eight videos displayed on the menu of home page, 40 displayed in a playlist sidebar beside the screen.  They have different video categories: "Most viewed," "Top Videos," and "Weird News"-all have 40 videos in a playlist on a sidebar beside the video player.

2.  Interactive Videos:
Msnbc.com asked users to submit videos of questions they would like to ask the presidential candidates.  The videos were submitted, voted on by other users, and the top 10 questions were posed to the candidates.  Videos of their responses can be viewed by clicking on their picture.  The downside is that only 5 candidates submitted answers.  *Was produced in partnership with The New York Times and techPresident.

3.  Breaking news footage by users:
There is a link on the homepage for users to submit their own footage/photos of news along with a report of ‘what they saw.'

• Photos

1.    Photo Blog:
Multimedia Editors post various photos from the news, comment on them, and then leave them for users to comment on.  You can scroll through photos dating back to 2006.

2.    Picture Stories:
Picture stories are a series of photos, usually 15, that can be viewed in a slideshow and contain an audio clip explaining the picture and the news story as well as a fairly detailed paragraph as a caption beside the photo.

3.    The Week In Pictures:
This web extra contains 14 photos from the week's news with a brief synopsis.  Is a great way to get a quick rundown of the news.  Users are also able to interact with the photos by voting on their favorites.

• Discussion Boards:

1.    All the stories are open to user comment.  Also, the site has links to various discussion boards on the home page under the "Explore" box.  Some of the discussions pertain directly to recent headlines, but others are more generic topics like travel and sports trivia.

2.    Users submit photos that could end up featured on the Today Show.  The most recent topic is ‘pictures of your messy kids.'  Submit Photos

Links

• There are very few links in the body of the story, usually none and at the most two or three.  There's always a related content box toward the end of the story and another box of related articles at the bottom of the page.  The links are sometimes vague and without description.  For instance, the link "singularity" takes you to an article entitled "What will happen when machines outthink us?"  Almost every link leads to another msnbc.com article.  The only links I found leading somewhere outside of the msnbc site was a link to the U.S. Patent Index and a couple links to space.com in articles about the space station.  In stories about colleges or businesses they do not link to those web sites.

Overall Pros and Cons:

• Pros:

1.  The site offers tons of multimedia options that aren't possible in print or broadcast.  The picture stories, discussion boards, videos, and features like "Can you spot the threats" gives the web site it's own identity by offering features above and beyond what tv or print news can offer.

2.  The writing is well organized and fairly consise. 

3.  There aren't a million links in the body text so the user isn't distracted by various other pages. 

4.  Additional articles and related information are clearly marked and easily accessible. 

5.  You do not have to be a member to access anything on the site. 

6.  There are commercials before some of the videos, but no longer than 15 seconds or so.

7.  There are tags on stories to denote 'new' and 'updated.'  This is especially helpful with breaking news stories because users can see how up-to-date the information is.

• Cons

1.  The tool bar gets lost on the page and would be much better served at the top.  It's very useful in navigating such an expansive site, but only if you realize it's there.

2.  The few links located inside stories are generally vague, and it's hard to tell exactly what it's about until you click on it.  The user would be better served if the title of the article appeared in a box when you hovered over the link.

3.  The home page is often too cluttered at the top.  There's three different sections each with pictures, headlines, summaries, and multiple links to stories.   It might be a little less overwhelming if there were just two sections or if fewer links were presented at first.  Sometimes there are as many as four pictures of all different sizes. Just making the pictures a consistant size and in a consistant location within the section would help.