Time | cool kids design

Time Magazine’s UX needs a serious overhaul. I received a push notification on my 3rd gen iPad from Time prompting me to check out their latest issue. Intrigued by the headlines, I swiped the notification, and was greeted with this alert:

After hitting OK, I landed on the following page, where Time expected me to buy the issue for $4.99. The only alternative was to ‘preview’ an issue, which merely displayed the table of contents.

But worst of all, none of their images were set up for the retina display. I had to shuffle through pages of blurry photos and icons to see that the information I came for wasn’t there. The entire experience was frustrating and ultimately a letdown. Time interrupted my evening. The least they could have done was let me read the article for free. Teasing and “Buy now for $4.99” is no way to win my business.