Applenews

We are more familiar with key words oriented news resources, Twitter, for an example!

Social media has played a huge role in distributing news.

Based on the research data from New York Times, 48% among age 18-29 get the news primarily from social Media. 40% among age 30-49. This is a very high percentage.

Besides social media, we have [news aggregators]: a platform that collects news from different sources. It accounts for 21% among age 18-29. Users might be familiar with: Google News, Apple News, Flipboard and more.

Social Media vs [News Aggregator], they are very different. - explain why

The way people get news has changed from traditional media newspapers to today's hot headlines and keywords. At the same time, the commentary-based social media has led to a decrease in the efficiency of watching news and an unfriendly network environment. The emergence of news aggregator is a clear stream, which gathers real reports from all media, but lacks social attributes.

Our design is to choose a news complex platform, try to add social attributes, and build new bridges. Create a news circle of friends, interact with reporters/users live, explore nearby, and keep valuable comments. Allow users to interact meaningfully with news like a community while getting the most authentic news.

We have a few insights in the following categories:

Comments Section

'Reading comments makes me feel the world is getting into chaos.'

'All the news is just a opinion and hard to verify.'

'It's hard for social media authors to be objective. Traditional media controlled by gov. and with bias'

'Sometimes it takes a while for my parents to open the news source I send them in Wechat'

'I want to platform with the real news but also have comments that are filtered.'

'I like recommendations, but not from other people's posts. It might not be accurate.'

'I tend to do my own research to verify someone's comments or news articles.'

'Rarely read comments, usually rude and impolite.'

'I care about my privacy and I don't want to be stalked'

News Sources

Sharing among different platforms

Based on the interview input, we created a persona to help us navigate through our user pain points.

Some of the outstanding pain points include:

a. official news is mixed with public opinions, which sometimes can be misleading

b. Share news from different apps/websites/platforms with friends/family can be complicated, especially for international users.

c. too many one sided comments make it hard for readers to form their own opinion

d. There is less fun for websites like NPR because no interaction with readers at all.

How might we allow users to distinguish between news facts and opinions and allow users to follow up?

How might we interactive with news live? （see & comment)

How might we create a kind and effective commenting system?

How might we have Moments for News between family and friends?

Social media collects comments/opinions, focus less on the accuracy of news. It can also create an unfriendly environment.

Press releases articles and opinions but seldom allow users to interact. What’s the hybrid model?
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Can this hybrid model we imagine not only allow users to get news with accuracy but also involve users as a community, even as a smaller scale that only includes friends and family?

We use Apple News as the platform to include our ideas and design.

Here is its current design.

Original tabs include:

Today | News | Audio | Following

1. The new design renames 'For you' to 'Popular among friends'. 'Trending Stories' is now included in 'Top Stories'. 'Popular among friends' introduces the small community while having personalized recommendations.

2. Redesign 'Audio' to 'Live' that includes both audio and Live videos.

3. Redesign Following to include not only topics, but also 'people' and 'channels'. It's now called called 'Moments' because it includes 'Activities center'