Digital only newsroom
Project Summary
CT Mirror is a digital-only local news outlet that covers policy issues in depth. While working in the newsroom as a photo and video journalist, I observed that 65% of our readers were accessing news via mobile devices, yet the website was optimized for laptop users. The 2023 audience survey revealed that user satisfaction with the website design was low. In response, I proposed conducting a UX research and design project to improve the experience for mobile readers.
Stakeholders
CEO and Publisher
Executive Editor
Enterprise Editor
Director of Digital Innovation
Deliverables
Research plan
Participant screener
Interview guide
Photos and videos from field visits
User persona
Final presentation
Low-fidelity prototypes
Impact
All five actionable recommendations were implemented within one year.
The success rate of completing key tasks increased by 83.33%.
After the update, participants' ratings of website navigation difficulty dropped from 6.8 to 3.4.
Context
As a photo and video journalist, I frequently went out into the field and interacted with our audience. One of the most common feedback I received was: 'I love your stories! I just wish there was a print version—it's a bit hard to read on my phone.'
The 2023 audience survey confirmed this feedback. Ratings for the website's navigation and layout were significantly lower than those for the content quality.
My newsroom recognized that the website layout had room for improvement but was unsure of the specific problems mobile readers were facing and the additional negative impacts these issues might cause.
Research Questions
How might we make it easier for our mobile audience to engage with the stories?
I aimed to answer the question by seeking answers to the following:
What situations are our audience in when they access the website on mobile?
What pain points do they encounter in achieving their goals with CT Mirror?
What additional problems are caused by the root issue?
Methods
I recruited six frequent users who visit the CT Mirror website on mobile at least five times a week. As a nonprofit organization, 90% of the newsroom's revenue came from individual readers and organizations. Since frequent users accounted for a significant portion of individual contributions, I chose to focus on understanding their experience for the company's first UX project.
For convenience, I executed the user interviews, direct observation, and usability test with each participant in a single session.
User Interviews
I conducted user interviews to understand their main goals for visiting the website, the contexts in which they access it on their phones, and any challenges they've encountered while using the site.
Direct Observation
I observed participants using the website on their mobile devices at a location where they typically visit the Mirror website. My intention was to gain a deeper understanding of any environmental factors or behaviors that may not have surfaced during the interviews.
Usability Test
Participants were asked to locate opinion articles and a newly launched story category called CT Mirror Explains. I chose these tasks because the newsroom had been launching individual story categories that didn't fall under higher-level categories, but they had low engagement rates. After each task, participants rated its difficulty on a scale of 1 to 5. I tracked success rates and the time taken to complete each task.
Findings
[ What do frequent users look for? ]
New
Topics of Interest
Reporters
During short breaks of less than 30 minutes, frequent users want to quickly check recently published stories. They often have specific topics or reporters they follow and aim to find those stories.
[ Causes of Pain Points ]
I presented the root causes and pain points in order of severity.
1. The mobile sidebar doesn't prioritize frequently used features.
Pain Point 1.
Users had difficulty finding stories of interest and reporters they follow on mobile devices. While the hamburger menu in the top right includes a list of news categories and reporters, users did not know that the menu existed or were unable to locate these lists after clicking the menu.
2. Information architecture did not match user expectations.
Pain Point 2.
Only one participant out of six found the Opinion section titled CT Viewpoints, when given unlimited time. Many participants couldn't quickly grasp the content of the section and skipped it as a result. This likely explains the frequent complaints the newsroom received about the opinion section being perceived as biased—without users realizing it was an opinion section in the first place.
Pain Point 3.
Although participants visited the website five times a week and the new individual story categories were launched about a year ago, participants were unsure of what content to expect from the categories.
Pain Point 4.
The specificity of story categories was inconsistent, making it difficult for users to find the stories they were looking for. For example, one participant was unsure whether stories about gun control should fall under the politics or justice categories.
3. Dates and update times are not displayed on older or ongoing stories.
Pain Point 5.
Users struggled to determine if they had caught up with unread stories on the landing page.
Recommendations
I presented the research findings and recommendations to the CEO, executive editor, enterprise editor, and Director of Digital Innovation. Given that the newsroom lacks a full-time web developer and UX design isn't a top priority, I focused on immediately implementable recommendations that deliver high impact with low cost.
All five actionable recommendations were implemented within one year, as shown below.
Above: Menu bars are seen on the mobile.
After leaving the company and without access to frequent users, I conducted usability tests with six first-time users on my own time following the website update. The success rate for key tasks increased by 83.33%.
Participants' ratings of the ease of completing key tasks on the website increased from 1.4 to 3.8.
Convincing leadership and driving change is a gradual process
Although I initially wanted to fully redesign the website to better serve mobile users, I recognized that my company wasn't going to commit the time or budget necessary for such a large-scale project. While admitting that my recommendations wouldn’t solve every issue, I focused on providing actionable solutions that could still improve the site within the existing budget constraints.
After offering my recommendations, I left the company, so I couldn’t continue guiding the updates. Had I stayed, I would have used methods like card sorting to propose a new information architecture, track measurable impacts, and work to convince leadership to invest further in enhancing the user experience.