Solving the News Desert Problem with Grapevine News
Mobile application design to bring reliable content from local journalists to their communities
Overview
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Summary
Solving the nation-wide news desert problem by bringing reliable content from local journalists to their communities.
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Problem
In rural areas of the US, there is an increasing amount of local newspaper companies that have shut down. This phenomenon is called the news desert. When this happens, local members in the community are not able to get reliable print news sources, and would turn to social media such as Facebook, where news reporting are not vetted. On the other hand, there are an increasing amount of newspaper journalists who are also struggling to keep their jobs as journalists.
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Solution
To mitigate the increased use of social media for news, while getting newsreaders reliable local news, a community-based news app was proposed. The goal of the app is to bring reliable content from freelance local journalists to local communities.
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My Role and Audience
Role: A solo case study.
Audience: Millenial newsreaders and freelance local journalists.
Discovery & Research
Here are some of the results from the user surveys and interviews. As the graph shows below, younger newsreaders rely on online sources such as news website as well as social media. These findings drove my design process.
I wanted to conduct more interviews with newsreaders and journalists in rural areas to get a better understanding of their pain points. However, due to time constraints, and the early course of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was only able to speak to a handful of newsreaders, mostly in the 18-29 and 30-49 age groups. I was also able to gather data from a New York Times article (More than 1 in 5 US papers has closed. This is the result) which includes responses from people in the community that has been affected.
User Pain Points
Reader
I spend most of my day at work and want to keep up with local news, but it is hard to get reliable local news from social media
It is hard to get to know people in the community
Most news apps do not cater to local news
Journalist
I chose this career to share information that can help people make their own decisions, but my current work does not allow me to do that
Large newspaper companies want you to write what they ask for, and local news organizations are increasingly being swallowed by larger companies.
Competitive Analysis
Strengths
Map view of latest updates
Citizen news showing citizen reports
Magic moments showing positive updates
Ability to react to others updates
Citizen updates are real-time
Citizen App
Weaknesses
News updates from citizens are not the same as articles
Has a gloomy feeling because of the dark view
Opportunities
Create options for light and dark views
Screenshot of Citizen App, showing a map view with latest updates in the area
Medium App
Strengths
Compose page is easy to use
Using clap on articles to show writers your support
Ability to save articles and archive after
Audio articles also available
Saved articles are easily accessible
Highlight a passage in an article
Reading list is on newsfeed, making it accessible
Weaknesses
Unable to show you don’t enjoy an article (but it is a good thing too)
Viewing comments might not be very accessible
Report article regarding content
Opportunities
Include the ability to report articles that are fishy
Screenshot of Medium App’s compose page with an accessible menu for bullet points, quotations, etc.
User Need States
With the research done above, I have created two need states. One as a reader and one as a journalist.
Reader
Aspirations
“I want to be engaged with my community”
Goals & Needs
Getting accurate news around me regarding local politics, and government meetings
Support local businesses and family events in the community
Journalist
Aspirations
“I want to be able to write about topics that I care about, and help people in my community”
Goals & Needs
Publish accurate stories without investment entities’ interference
Inform instead of mislead
Information Architecture
For this project, I have developed user flows and wireframe sketches to organize content.
User Flow
I debated on creating two different apps, one for readers and one for journalists. So I created a sketch for two different user flows. It was later decided that the two views be combined in one app, where users are able to choose their view upon Log in. This is reflected in the digital user flow I created in Figma.
Wireframe Sketches
Before beginning my wireframe sketches for the app, I sketched out screens from Citizen and Medium, as well as BuzzFeed News and Apple News to get some design inspiration.
The wireframe sketches started out with the first crazy 8 sketches which was quickly developed into a series of sketched out wireframes for the app.
Brand Development
With the client’s goal of connecting people and ideas, the logo of multiple joined Venn-diagrams was ideated, and colors were chosen to reflect trust using purple hues, and growth using green hues. The colors chosen were also accessibility tested using Adobe Color and are color blind safe.
High Fidelity Prototype
Key Findings
After building a high-fidelity prototype, the app was shared with 3 different users for usability testing. Below are some of the scenarios:
View articles as readers
Request topics to be covered in the area from journalists
Write an article
View approved articles to write as a journalist
The main takeaways and feedback from the usability testing to improve on for Grapevine 2.0 are:
Flag to report feature
Allow journalists to post live stories
Ability to search for articles
Tutorial screen for explain meanings of buttons/icons
Final Thoughts
This was a fun project for me as I was able to dive into topics that I am unfamiliar with. The project solves the problem of getting reliable local news to the community and brings people together. I was able to communicate closely with the client at every step of the design process to make sure everything aligned with the business goals. Although this was a topic I knew very little about at the beginning of the project, I loved the design process, such as figuring out the solutions that would meet the needs of a journalist and a reader, and especially arranging the information architecture which was so satisfying!
I have also applied the agile methodology in this design process. The agile methodology also gave me a new perspective to brainstorming designs quickly by sketching to see what works and what does not. Most of all, this methodology taught me not to be afraid to write things down on paper without caring if they looked good or not, which immensely helped with the design process.
Moving forward, I plan to continue sketching by hand and be more courageous in the design process (not afraid of making mistakes). One other area of improvement will be to document every step of the sketching process and to create better storytelling.