Summit – Premium News Subscription Platform

This project transformed global news consumption by creating a subscription-based platform that synthesized complex topics across politics, economics, and science into tailored content. Summit empowered users to gain deeper insights, stay engaged, and build trust in a fragmented news landscape.

Client: International Media Investments
Industry: Media
Platforms: Mobile App, iOS & Android Native and Web-based
Role: Lead Product Designer & Manager
Design Team: Myself, 2 UX Designers, UX Researcher
Client Team: Stakeholders, Engineering Team & SME
Time Frame: 6 Months

**View the final designs and project outcomes by scrolling to the bottom of the screen.

Context
  • Diverse News Landscape and Consumption Trends: The media environment offers a vast array of content, with audiences increasingly engaging through digital platforms, as 85% of Americans now access news via mobile devices.
  • Focus on Global Issues: International Media Investments recognized the importance of creating a platform that synthesizes content across politics, economics, and science, providing interconnected insights to enhance understanding.
  • Audience and Vision: Designed for professionals, academics, and informed citizens, the platform aimed to explore innovative methods for delivering credible, interdisciplinary news through modern digital formats.
Problem

Consumer Impact:

  • Fragmented News Experience: Consumers face an overwhelming number of news sources that create information overload and fail to provide interconnected insights, making it challenging to understand complex global issues.
  • Lack of Depth and Context: News coverage often lacks comprehensive analysis, leaving readers unable to grasp the full scope of significant events across politics, economics, and science.

Business Impact:

  • Missed Revenue Opportunities: Without a strong digital platform, the company struggled to generate consistent subscription revenue, monetize content, and expand market presence.

  • Engagement and Retention Challenges: Low user engagement and loyalty made it difficult to sustain subscription revenue and build a competitive advantage.

  • Growth Limitations: A lack of a scalable digital platform limited operations, market reach, and revenue growth opportunities.

Objective

  • Develop a Unified Platform: Create a subscription-based news service that consolidates in-depth analysis of global issues across politics, economics, and science into a single, accessible platform.

  • Enhance User Engagement: Design an intuitive, responsive platform for web and mobile that prioritizes seamless navigation, engaging content delivery, and features like infographics, videos, and podcasts to retain and captivate users.

  • Foster Deeper Understanding: Provide interconnected insights that empower users to grasp the relationships between global events and make more informed decisions.

  • Drive Business Growth: Establish a scalable and competitive platform that attracts discerning audiences, boosts subscriptions, and fosters long-term retention.

  • Maintain Credibility and Ethics: Ensure all content adheres to ethical journalism standards and delivers accurate, thoroughly researched reporting to build trust with the audience.

UX Process:
Empathize

Tasks:

  • Reviewed stakeholder requirements
  • Educated on current news industry and competitive landscape
  • Conducted interviews with stakeholders and journalists
  • Shadowed journalists

Stakeholder Requirements

Key Findings:

  • Credible and Comprehensive Content: Ensure all news articles are accurate, thoroughly researched, and provide in-depth analysis to build audience trust and establish the platform’s reputation as a reliable news source.

  • Engaging User Experience: Develop an intuitive and responsive platform that encourages prolonged interaction and repeat visits through features like multimedia content, seamless navigation, and personalized feeds.

  • Scalable Infrastructure: Create a platform that supports the addition of new content types and features without compromising performance, ensuring long-term adaptability and growth.

  • Effective Monetization Strategy: Implement subscription models and explore alternative revenue streams, such as partnerships and sponsorships, to generate sustainable income without disrupting the user experience.

  • Ethical and Legal Compliance: Adhere to ethical journalism standards and comply with data privacy laws and media regulations to uphold integrity and avoid legal challenges.

Conducted Interviews

Sales Representatives:

  • Mobile Accessibility: Sales reps stressed the need for a mobile-first design that allows seamless data access while in the field.
  • Ease of Use: A simple and intuitive interface was requested to reduce learning curves and improve day-to-day efficiency.
  • Real-Time Updates: Expressed the need for timely data updates to stay informed about their progress and adjust strategies as needed.
  • Integration with Tools: Sales reps sought integration with calendars and email platforms to streamline their workflows.

Stakeholders:

  • Need for Real-Time Insights: Stakeholders emphasized the importance of immediate access to sales data to make quick strategic decisions.
  • Focus on Security: Ensuring strict data protection standards was a critical priority to safeguard sensitive client and sales information.
  • Customizable Reporting: Stakeholders required detailed and customizable reports to monitor performance metrics across teams effectively.
  • Scalability Concerns: Highlighted the need for a platform that could grow with the organization while maintaining high performance.

It would be great for me to easily track my sales performance and see how I’m doing compared to my goals. Having this data on hand would motivate me to stay on top of my target goals for the month.

Phillip Argo - Senior Sales Rep

Shadowed Journalists

Key Findings:

  • Timely and Accurate Reporting: Journalists need tools that provide reliable information quickly while ensuring accuracy, to meet tight deadlines and update stories in real-time.

  • Complexity of Sourcing: Journalists face intricate challenges in sourcing and verifying information, often requiring them to validate unverified reports and cross-check multiple sources to uphold credibility under tight deadlines.

  • Collaborative Workflows: Journalists rely on effective collaboration tools to streamline efforts with editors, fact-checkers, and other departments, ensuring high-quality reporting.

Conceptualize

Tasks:

  • Developed User Personas
  • Conducted Foundational and Exploratory Research
  • Created Sketches and Wireframes

User Personas

Foundational & Exploratory Research - Web

Foundational & Exploratory Research - Native Apps

Design

Tasks:

  • Developed Prototype

  • Conducted User Testing

  • Built High-Fidelity Designs

  • Created Design System

Prototype & User Testing

These were features introduced into the prototype and tested with news consumers during user testing to evaluate the usability and effectiveness of the prototype.

Key Findings:

  • High User Engagement: The prototype’s engaging layout and interactive features significantly increased user interaction, with users spending 30% more time on the platform compared to previous benchmarks.

  • Effective Content Delivery: Subscribers praised the clear organization and accessibility of news content, enabling them to quickly locate relevant articles and explore topics in-depth.

  • Positive Visual Design Feedback: Users appreciated the clean and modern visual design, which facilitated easy reading and enhanced overall user satisfaction.

  • Responsive Performance: The prototype demonstrated exceptional responsiveness across devices, ensuring a seamless experience for users accessing the platform on mobile, tablet, and desktop.

  • Navigation Refinement Needed: Initial feedback indicated the navigation menu was overly complex, leading to revisions that simplified user interactions and improved accessibility.

  • Enhanced Multimedia Integration: Features like videos, podcasts, and infographics were well-received, adding depth and engagement to the news experience.

Project Outcomes

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are based on 6 months of user data collected from company analytics.

Consumer Impact:

  • 85% Retention Rate: Personalized and engaging features retained subscribers at rates far exceeding industry standards.

  • 36% Increase in Daily Engagement: Enhanced features and an intuitive design encouraged users to engage more, reflecting the platform’s quality and relevance.

  • 4.5/5 User Satisfaction Rating: Subscribers praised the platform for its user-friendly design and engaging content, emphasizing its effectiveness.

  • 60% of Consumers Reported Deeper Understanding: Comprehensive coverage of global issues provided users with clearer insights into complex topics.

  • 70% of Users Valued Tailored Content: Customized feeds and rich multimedia features, such as videos and infographics, elevated user engagement.

Business Impact:

  • 20% Revenue Growth: The subscription model created a stable, scalable revenue stream aligned with long-term business goals.

  • 25% Increase in Subscribers: The platform’s strong market entry and appealing features spurred substantial growth within six months.

  • 50% Faster Feature Deployment: A scalable design allowed rapid expansion of content and features, meeting increasing user demands efficiently.

  • 80% Trust Rating: Credible, high-quality content solidified the platform’s standing as a trusted news source.

  • Market Differentiation: The unique interdisciplinary approach to news coverage set the platform apart from competitors, enhancing its market position.

Knowledge Gained

  • Real-Time Data Visualization: Gained expertise in creating dynamic dashboards that deliver actionable, real-time insights for quick decision-making.

  • User-Centric Customization: Learned to design adaptable features tailored to diverse workflows, ensuring flexibility across various operational needs.

  • Iterative Feedback Loops: Reinforced the value of continuous user feedback to refine features and enhance usability based on real-world input.

  • Accessibility and Inclusion: Strengthened skills in designing intuitive, inclusive solutions for users with varying tech proficiencies.

  • Scalability and Integration: Developed scalable, integrated systems capable of supporting growth and multi-location operations in diverse contexts.

Final Designs
View Prototype

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Topics Landing Page

Watch (Video) Landing Page

Listen (Podcasts) Landing Page​

Journalist Profile Landing Page

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Events Landing Page

Design System