Designing a better news reading experience for everyone.
Background
NewsHuub is an individualized news platform that delivers current news from various global news outlets to its readers. Users can explore news articles from their preferred categories and compare them with those from other news sources.
The Problem
A significant challenge faced by web-based news readers today is collecting and organizing news articles from multiple platforms. People with multiple preferred news sources for each category have to visit multiple websites or apps to access the news they want. For instance, if a reader favors CNBC and Nairametrics for business news and BBC and Fox News for political news, they would have to download four apps or open four web tabs simultaneously, leading to a complicated and overwhelming news experience.
Research
To understand how individuals gather and read news on the web, I conducted remote user interviews with five working professionals who regularly read news— three in their late twenties and two in their late thirties.
With these insights, we arrived at a refined problem statement.
“How might we design a solution that makes visualization of accounts easier and more efficient for our users?”
Information Architecture
After settling on the solution, I created a sitemap to help plan the layout of all the pages and content I needed to design for.
User Flow
I utilized the information architecture as the basis and developed a user flow to depict a user's journey through the product, with the aim of recognizing and solving any potential user challenges.
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Design Solution
For this case study, the design solution will focus only on the key features that solve the pain points highlighted in the problem statement.
Create Account
Upon signing up, readers have control over their news feed by customizing it. They can choose the news categories they are interested in and their preferred sources for each. This allows them to shape their news reading experience. Their preferences can be adjusted at any time in their account settings.
Compare News with Other Sources
By comparing a primary news article with similar reports from chosen secondary sources, readers can gain a thorough understanding of the information.
What’s Next?
I plan to perform a usability evaluation on the product. I am particularly focused on testing the sign-up process, the ease of reading news articles, and the usability of the "compare news sources" feature. Afterward, I will make improvements based on the feedback received. I am eager to start this stage and gain valuable insights from the experience.
A Look at The Desktop View
While I emphasized the mobile aspect of the web application, I also considered its appearance on desktop and larger screens. This guarantees an excellent user experience on all types of devices.
