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Craigslist - Design Eye for the List Guy

by Ryan Sims 34 Comments

I was fortunate enough to be invited back for another round of redesign madness in Design Eye for the List Guy at SXSW. Our target was the ever popular classified site, craigslist. I won't bore you with all the details, you can find out all the information up on the Design Eye site, if you wish. I just wanted to say real quick that the turnout was amazing and it seemed as though attendees were enjoying themselves.

My role in this particular redesign was interface and layout, which was pretty frightening considering how many people LOVE the current craigslist. Last September, my wife and I used Craigslist exclusively to find an apartment in Boston, so I was pretty familiar with the site and felt a certain allegiance to do a good job on this. A little corny. I know. So, without further ado, check out our version of the homepage and the listings page compared to their homepage and listings page.

The Design Eye Crew
Keith Robinson - research & strategy
Paul Nixon - branding & identity
Cameron Moll - mobile technology
Ryan Sims - interface & layout
Andrei Herasimchuck - information architecture

34 Comments

Wow this is really impressive. I'm forever impressed by the noob/nuebix/virb/whoever-you-are crew's simple yet amazing designs. They're always so clean and well structured. Great job again guys.

Kurt

15 May 07 at 2:37pm

So, are they going to use/hire you/give a rat about the design? It's an amazing improvement. Nice job!

Rob

15 May 07 at 8:10pm

Gosh, that's pretty. Love that blue.

slodwick

16 May 07 at 8:04am

I wondered if this would make a return ;)

Love it!

Joel

18 May 07 at 4:47am

That would be amazing if they ever adopted your design… But I guess when you draw as many hits a month as they do, they probably care less. It's a shame, cause your design would be a major UPGRADE. Good job!

MStyles3

21 May 07 at 0:08am

interesting design

china flowers

22 May 07 at 0:41am

Peter

22 May 07 at 4:03pm

Vse promolchat nikto ne skazhe. Kazimiera Raimondas.

Kazimiera Raimondas

28 May 07 at 5:55pm

Zhili byli.. Menelaus Karolis.

Menelaus Karolis

31 May 07 at 9:16pm

Great Scott! That's incredible.

Brian

7 Jun 07 at 2:25pm

Wow, you managed to make Craigslist boring, overly slick, and corporate with twice the scrolling. I don't see how this design would solve any problems. I'll take Craig's version any day.

Don't underestimate the public's trust in homegrown aesthetics…

Chris

12 Jun 07 at 0:35am

Chto s holodami ne v lada. Reece Bidelia.

Reece Bidelia

21 Jun 07 at 2:47pm

Can I have the craigslist redesign look because I have a domain name call craigsshit.com. I think your design and my domain name will be a perfect match. Think about and email.

Willie

25 Jun 07 at 2:54am

But you keep on abusin i. Den Leola.

Den Leola

5 Jul 07 at 0:22am

Why do they not change craigslist then? Is the contest just a design thing for fun. It seems to me that the site could really use a lot of small features, but then again I absolutely love it the way it is now.

Jon B

9 Aug 07 at 5:53pm

my name is murava! are you? http://www.benimblog.com/murava/

murava

7 Sep 07 at 3:46pm

I was a little skeptical, as I am actually a huge fan of the current CL interface. But I think you did a very good job, improving its readability while maintaining its great functionality.

Dale Geist

10 Sep 07 at 1:02pm

These redesigns kinda show you haven't a clue what your doing, your missing the point entirely of these sites

terry

22 Sep 07 at 11:35am

If TBN's was the current Craigslist design I wouldn't be vomiting whilst trying to find what I need buried in Times New Roman ):

jake

25 Oct 07 at 5:03pm

You guys really like yourselves, don't you…. Your designs are cool though, very clean, minimal, and tastefull

Brian

8 Dec 07 at 1:35am

Love it guys….very clean and elegant!

Shuki Haiminis

10 Dec 07 at 11:43am

It's nice and clean, easy to ready, navigable, but I don't like the lack of branding. CL's current site is so ugly so that in itself is the branding, but yours is nice, modern, and kind-of common, so it needs a stronger brand.

I'd rather look at yours, but I wouldn't implement it if I were CL.

Oak Behringer

7 Feb 08 at 2:48am

I've read a ouple of comments that were really positive about tbn's redesign. I think the concept would be a great look. I dont think that CL needs more branding – it is well established as a minimalist brand – but minimalist shouldnt mean ugly. I like the use of blue in the new look and I think it would work great. just my 2 cents ;-)

Frank White

9 Feb 08 at 10:09pm

Damn, I totally love your layout. Not a lot done, but just the right touch to add class to the list of Craig. Great job! I would love to see this change or something similar sometime soon!

Addison Kowalski

4 Mar 08 at 6:45pm

It is a great redesign, but I don't see them changing anytime soon. Don't fix what isn't broken and all that

Jamie Lottering

4 Mar 08 at 6:48pm

Eh, I like the original better. Larger fonts, better contrast, easier to read.

Your's looks good, but it's not as functional.

Jordan

17 Mar 08 at 7:51pm

Oh so peaceful, after looking at craigslist for a bunch of days now this was soooo refreshing!

Alicia Markey

25 Mar 08 at 3:06pm

I realize this post is about 2 years old….but I really do think it is time for change on "the list". I'm curious about the graphs provided in the right column on the listings page…what was used for those?

Jeremy Lockhart

10 Apr 08 at 0:21am

Very nice. Simple, and the font is just right. Sadly craigslist has no colour!

solomon

23 Apr 08 at 1:42am

The original craigslist is easier to find cities and clearer for navigation with the eyes. Maybe I'm just used to it but after several glances at both I still feel confident of the original. Craigslist needs to remain simple. It fits neatly into mobile phone browsers and works like a charm. They aren't selling their service so there's no need to change anything. :)

Randall

25 Apr 08 at 3:03pm

I'm with Randall on this one. While your version is looks nicer -no question- quick scanning for a specific things is more work than it should be. The category items are not as easy to spot. For me if it isn't as easy to use or better then there really hasn't been an improvement.

Now the REAL issue with craigslist.org, looks aside, is being about to search more than one city, state or area code.

Roger

27 Apr 08 at 2:44pm

Oh if only! I am afraid Craiglslist is far beyond the point of no redesign! Or I could say any design for that matter! I am sad I didn't get out to SXSW this year. This session must have been really enjoyable!

.b

22 May 08 at 0:02am

This looks awesome. Seeing how this is two years old, I'm guessing the folks at craigslist aren't keen on a redesign? The layout is great, but the only thing is that I think the contrast may be a little to light. The original site is much easier to read.

Josh

27 Sep 08 at 11:59pm

Not sure of you are aware of this but I figured you guys would want to know if someone is copying your designs:

White Label Apps http://classifieds-demo.whitelabelapps.com/

Jason

5 Nov 08 at 9:54pm

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The author

Ryan Sims is the lead designer for a small company in Boston called Virb Inc. (formerly Unborn Media). Back in 2001, he and Brad co-founded Neubix, a little design studio in the Midwest. He wishes he could read more books.

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