Switch to the new nzherald.co.nz site

We hope you like what we've designed and built for you.

Read on if you want to know more about the background to the changes we have made or click here to be among the first to make the new site your source of news, sport and entertainment.

Why change?

More people visit our website now on mobile devices than on desktop. This is unlikely to surprise you; you know how you, your colleagues, friends and family increasingly use smartphones in your daily lives.

So when we began the journey to relaunch the design and user experience of nzherald.co.nz, we began with mobile.

Throughout the design process we've kept our audience at the centre of what we've created. Because we wanted to make your experience on mobile truly great, this site is unashamedly optimised for people on the go.

And while we have focused on mobile, we have also created an improved desktop experience. The challenge, then, was to develop a flexible design that looked good however you came to us and on whatever your screen size. It is what's called a "responsive site".

Who have we partnered with to design and build the new nzherald.co.nz?

We partnered with a leading design agency, with consulting advice from top international design experts at Garcia Media - and we built the site with new technology called Arc Publishing Tools, developed by a team of engineers at The Washington Post.

What has changed?

As we built the new look and features based on state-of-the-art international developments in news website design, we paid close attention to what our audience told us in test environments. Some of the many changes you will notice:

• Bigger, bolder images to bring important news events to life, and to better highlight our great lifestyle content.

• An improved video experience, either standalone or embedded in articles.

• Clearer sign-posting for different types of content.

• Left-side desktop navigation aimed at showing you how much content is available and how to get there quickly and easily.

• A "hamburger-style" navigation tool on mobile - three horizontal bars that open out when clicked to reveal navigation across the site.

• Signposting how long an article will take to read - either a minute or two on the run, or a deeper reading experience.

Last but not least

Our new site is designed for one thing above all - to bring our journalism to you in a way that makes it easier to read and enjoy. We are proud of our journalism, whether fast breaking news, exclusive reporting, in-depth data interactives or eye-catching visuals through video and photography. And we are proud of our new design.

You're one of the first to see and explore the new nzherald.co.nz. We would love to hear your comments and suggestions so we can continue to bring you the best news, sport and entertainment with a terrific user experience.

Let us know what you think here.