Advance Local is a digital media company that operates 18 media groups, reaching 52+ MAU through platforms like NJ.com, MassLive.com, and MLive.com. However, some of their articles were underperforming in terms of user engagement, specifically in driving newsletter sign-ups, content recommendations, and other interactive elements. This revealed an opportunity to improve UX, boost interaction, and enhance overall content performance
Improved user experiences for 10+ media groups by identifying pain points, optimizing article engagement, and refining visual design. Used iterative design and usability testing to enhance the interface. Collaborated with product, marketing, and editorial teams to deliver user-centered solutions
Users are not engaging with embedded content, such as related articles, newsletter sign-ups, and author stories, leading to low click-through rates (CTR). The average CTR for our engagement modules is just 2.9%, compared to the industry average of ~4% for similar content. This significant gap indicates that these prompts are not effectively capturing user attention or driving meaningful interaction. As a result, we are missing opportunities for content discovery, subscription growth, and improved user engagement.
Through user research and extensive usability testing, we identified key areas for improvement in the integration of engagement modules. By ensuring these features not only align with the article's tone but also reflect the brand's look and feel, we made the engagement prompts feel more natural and relevant to the user. This strategic approach improved the placement and contextual relevance of the content, leading to higher click-through rates and greater user interaction. Ultimately, this approach has increased content consumption, bringing our engagement metrics closer to industry standards.
Our research helped in identifying the following problems with the user engagement features.
The content recommendations closely resembled the ad content, resulting in poor user engagement as they went largely unnoticed
The news widget needed to align with the content recommendations, but it lacked the branding elements, causing it to appear separate and disconnected.
The newsletter sign-up module had a resemblance to ad content and lacked visual appeal, making it less enticing. Additionally, it failed to provide crucial newsletter information that would have informed users about the newsletter's value.
My role initiated with conducting competitive analyses of prominent local news organizations, yielding invaluable insights into their content promotion strategies, content diversity, writing style, user experience, design, and the interactivity of their article pages on digital platforms.
I conducted thorough research to examine how other local news platforms integrate content into their article page. This research allowed me to synthesize valuable data and insights, that helped me explore opportunities to increase user engagement and satisfaction.
Each concept focuses on seamlessly integrating the recommendations within the user's journey, ensuring they feel organic and relevant.
Before conducting usability testing with users, I first outlined objectives, goals and procedures in a usability testing plan document. This served as a rubric during testing sessions. A total of 18 participants were asked to complete a series of tasks tied to scenarios during unmoderated testing.
While there was some editorial curation in place, it often felt disconnected and rigid, making it hard for editors to consistently showcase stories in a clear and unified way. Based on insights from usability testing of the content recommendation module, I started sketching out ideas for a news widget that would give editors more flexibility and help readers discover content more easily.
The newsletter module felt a bit disconnected and lacked a clear brand identity, which made it look like an ad. To fix this, I made sure to incorporate the brand name, added info on how the newsletter is delivered, and used the platform's colors to give it a more unified and familiar feel for the readers.
I continued with conducting usability testing with users for the newsletter module, by outlined objectives, goals and procedures in a usability testing plan document. This served as a rubric during testing sessions. A total of 10 participants were asked to complete a series of tasks tied to scenarios during unmoderated testing.
We added helpful error messages for invalid or empty email entries, making it easier for users to fix mistakes quickly. A clear success state confirmed their sign-up, creating a smooth and trustworthy experience.
The redesign of the engagement modules led to significant improvements in user interaction. We saw a 30% increase in click-through rates, which directly enhanced content discovery and user engagement. Additionally, there was a 40% increase in overall interactions, indicating users were more likely to engage with related content. The 25% decrease in bounce rate further highlights that users were staying longer and interacting more with the content, resulting in a more seamless and engaging experience. These metrics confirm the effectiveness of the redesign in driving user engagement and improving content consumption.
My role as a product designer on this project involved skillfully navigating through a range of constraints. This required finding the right equilibrium between technical limitations and user requirements. These challenges compelled me to excel in converting intricate situations into straightforward, comprehensible concepts and design choices.
I picked up this approach from the senior product designer, who consistently emphasized the value of "over-communication" right from the project's outset. It proved invaluable in helping me understand and manage the project requirements comprehensively as a designer at all levels.
To ensure precise implementation by developers, it's crucial to clearly specify padding and margin dimensions in your designs. I've adopted this practice to eliminate ambiguity and attain designs that are perfectly aligned down to the pixel.
