NRC – Interactive journalism
Using interaction to engage the next generation
How can we make journalism relevant and appealing to a younger generation that reads fewer newspapers, without compromising NRC’s identity and values? With this project, I took one of the first steps in NRC’s digitisation process. I deeply explored the unique strengths of NRC and the print medium, translating them into a modern, interactive design.
UX/UI Design
November 2024
The Design
The concept appears deceptively simple but is carefully tailored to NRC’s needs. This design gives audiences a clearer overview of news stories by using collapsible menus to hide parts of the content. This allows readers to personalise their experience by filtering and selecting the most relevant parts. Its simplicity also benefits editors, as it requires minimal changes to their existing writing process.
Research
I focused on understanding how news consumption differs between younger (Gen z) and older generations by researching, consulting experts, and interviewing the target audience. I also analyzed my client’s operations to ensure an effective solution and explored trends in interactive journalism.
2 persona’s created based on research results to encapsulate different user needs.
Conceptualising and iterations
I created a few concepts based on my research. I decided that the biggest problem that needed to be adressed was improving the online experience of long news stories, as they no longer appeal to younger audiences. My solution was to implement collapsible menus, allowing readers to view a clean and organised overview while providing the flexibility to personalise their experience. I experimented with a wide variety of prototypes to develop a design that is both intuitive and user-friendly. Throughout this process, I utilized various prototyping tools, including Figma and Protopie, and validated my designs through A/B testing and user testing.
One important insight I gained from these tests was that my initial ideas for the navigation and interactions were too complex and unconventional. I realised that it was crucial to stick to familiar design patterns and interactions to ensure users could easily navigate the interface.
A collection of design iterations.
Journalistic value
A key aspect of this project is that my design preserves NRC’s journalistic values and standards. After validating the design, I concluded it would make news more accessible, offer nuanced perspectives, and present different viewpoints in a non-hierarchical manner. Additionally, the design aligns with younger audiences by providing a personalized news experience, reflecting their everyday interactions on social media and it aligns with NRC’s editors since they don’t have to make big changes to their journalistic content and workflow.
Implementation
After completing the project in November 2024, the team at NRC is now working on developing and planning its release in 2025. Once launched, this interactive format will allow editors to use it within the CMS to craft news stories featuring collapsible menus.
The prototype
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