The New York Times really pains me with their approach to video.

Besides the content—which will be for another day—they never really take the presentation of their video seriously. And they’re killing themselves because of it—instead of sobering up to the fact that video should always be taken as seriously as a print piece.

It’s 2010, video on the web is NOT a novelty anymore.

The NYTimes needs to learn how to properly present video, just as they know how to properly present text articles and photographs. However, video presentation is a different beast. Not understanding that will lead to low view counts, even lower retention through the video, and the dismissal of video as a viable news platform online.

For an example, here is a screenshot of the front page I saw today:

The NYTimes is featuring their highly publicized “TimesCast” video in a tiny little box on their cluttered front page.

The front page layout, which is obviously influenced by the print counterpart, is great for skimming over content. And it is also what we’ve been trained to do subconsciously throughout the years. Skim the headlines, find what you want.

This leads to a hostile environment for video. Video consumption is passive. The viewer doesn’t control the time, the pace, the order of the content, etc. This is the complete opposite of print—where we can skim through paragraphs, skip what we don’t care about, look at the photographs and charts whenever we feel is necessary.

So to put a lone video in a world of skimming doesn’t give it much chance to be enjoyed.

No wonder why newspapers always complain about viewers never wanting to watch anything over three minutes. But their problem is they blame the viewer, instead of themselves.

They didn’t give the viewer the appropriate atmosphere to enjoy the video.

And on top of sticking the video in a hostile environment, they made it TINY. Really tiny.

The video is about 335×180 pixels. That’s smaller than even an iPhone screen. And this is on a computer screen that can handle high definition content.

So… NYTimes… here is your lesson for the day.

Online Video Layout 101

1. Center your video horizontally. Symmetry is key. It is relaxing and what we are traditionally used to with theaters and TVs. The more comfortable your viewer is subconsciously, the longer they will watch.
2. Vertically, have your video be top heavy. Place it slightly above the vertical center or higher. Once again, this goes along the lines of pleasing aesthetics and is used in many art galleries for mounting works of art. If it’s good enough for Van Gogh, it’s good enough for your videos.
3. Don’t clutter the space. The area around the video should not distract or we will lose focus on the video quickly. If the video is placed in a cluttered area, make sure you can clean it up during the viewing by using a Lightbox or other technology. See my rendition of the NYTimes front page below for an example.
4. Bigger is better. For the same reason why we prefer to watch a feature film on a HDTV over an iPhone, your video should take up a significant amount of screen area during playback. The larger the proportion, the longer your viewers will be willing to watch.
5. Avoid bright areas and contrasts. Both of these will fatigue the eyes much faster, leading to… you guessed it… shorter viewing times.

For a quick comparison, look at how Hulu’s site is set up:

While not perfect, it’s pretty damn good.

The video is centered and larger. The interface is not cluttered. There are no hard contrasts—even the text is gray to help soften the layout. Gradients also smooth everything out.

It’s all about the video.

That’s the type of layout and environment I can sit and watch a video for 10 minutes… 15… even 30 minutes.

Now I know the NYTimes has other goals and they’re not primarily a video distributor. But there are lessons to be learned and ways to adapt this lesson still.

The best solution, employ a Lightbox solution to the site that enlarges the video and hides the rest of the content when the video is being played. Really, really simple.

Here’s what playback would look like with a solution like that:

This solution allows the NYTimes to not have to significantly change their layout, highlight the video (and the advertising around it), and create an environment that viewers will actually watch a video for more than 30 seconds. That is, if the content is good. But again, for another day.

Throw in your two cents below in the comments!

Zack Wilson is a creative media producer based in New York City with a strong focus in dramatic narrative structure, emerging media technologies and international cultures. Visit http://zackwilson.com for more blog articles and to see his work.