News12 MVP Web and App Experience

Project Overview

Our main goal was to create a modern digital storytelling experience for News12 users across devices. By creating a more immersive experience, we aimed to attract a new, younger audience to use local broadcast news outlets. Our efforts were to make the News12 sites more up-to-date and ultimately increase retention and engagement. 

Team Structure

Main Stakeholder: VP, Digital at Altice USA

Product Team: Director of Product at Cheddar, Product Manager, and myself (Senior Product Designer). 

My role: Research, user flows & stories, sketching, wireframing, visual design, prototyping. 

UX Case Study

Research

We started the project by sending out an online survey to current News12 users, mainly to understand which platforms they were consuming and why. We learned that 68% of News12 TV viewers engaged with News12 only on linear TV from this initial survey. 25% used the News12 website, and 19% used the News12 app. One of our goals was to attract linear TV "watchers" to our digital platforms. 

Both News12.com & App

12% reported that they would be encouraged to go back if the navigation were easier, and another 12% would go back if there were easier access. 

News12.com

Of those who have ever been to News12.com, 42% have been to the website in the past week; 23% prefer to get info from local TV channel instead of News12.com; 18% prefer other news websites over News12.com; 18% prefer other websites over News12.com; 4% reported having trouble accessing the site or the content. 

Old News12 website below

During the discovery phase, we spent most of our time interviewing stakeholders and users of the site current News12 site. We also explored new ideas with mood boards and competitive analysis. Once we had a general idea of what the News12 team was looking for, we started sketching out new layout variations for the site. 

Mood Boards

Initial layout ideas for the desktop experience

News12 MVP final designs

Navigation: 1440px - 1024px

High-level goals for the mobile experience

- Increase live viewership, specifically target TV audience to move over to the digital platforms. 

- Modern, clean design. Consider ads and how they will impact the flow of content on the page and the overall experience.

Scope and technical constraints for iOS and Android app experience

-  Use mobile web designs for weather

 - We will build a new settings screen right after launch, so for now, we kept it listed below the region selector

 - Sticky footer ad is needed, so avoid bottom navigation

How might a user access the livestream? 

Final MVP Designs 

Dark Mode