Team
Emmet Smith (Manager)
Ricky Richards (Mentor)
Rebecca Santiago (Editor)
My Role
Product Designer
Owner
Tools
Sketch
Keynote
Timeline
3 months
PROBLEM
Users ages 18-29 have low subscription rates.
Although younger users make up an increasing percentage of Apple users, they remain in the minority of News+ subscribers. Unlike following news sources on social media (an increasing trend for users in this age group), personalizing feed is not a core experience of News+.
SOLUTION
In this case study, I propose a News+ feature to enrich the experience for users age 18-29 by focusing on personalization and community. As an added benefit, these enhancements increase article circulation and subscription rates within users' personal networks.
PERSONALIZABLE
Creating Collections.
Collecting recipes from your feed? Save them into "Easy Recipes."
With the save button prioritized in cards, users can save articles into self-curated Collections.
COLLABORATIVE
Share with your community.
Share your "Easy Recipes" Collection with your family for Thanksgiving.
People read the news to stay in touch with their community—this feature allows us to capitalize on this while increasing article circulation and providing additional entry-points to News+.
EXPANDING REACH
Collections in Today Feed.
See articles like "Easy Recipes" in your Today feed.
By treating Collections like any other part of the Today feed, we are normalizing user-curation and ensuring that articles get into the right hands ASAP.
RESEARCH
42% of the news 18-29 year olds consume is through social media. Why?
Paid journalism in competition with 3rd party aggregators
In the age of television/radio, users had fewer choices in the news they consumed. Now, users have more agency.
I analyzed Instagram, X, Facebook, & Substack. These platforms, like Apple News, give users have access to multiple publications. They also all have features that allow for more personalization. And finally, they all rely heavily on algorithms to circulate the right articles to the user who want to read them.
EMPATHIZING
What's making "earned media" more appealing?
Personalization
Algorithms and "follow" interactions create experiences where personalization is the norm.
Social
With social media being the primary way users keep up with the news, users get the added benefit of knowing they are up to date with their chosen community.
Multimedia Storytelling
Digital information is being shared in different ways now, ie short form video, data visualization, and scroll interactions.
PRIORITIZING
User-curation.
Users want more agency.
Personalization
User-curation as supplement for algorithmic curation. Apple News' personalization cannot come from the algorithm.
Social
Social cognitive aspects of news/media consumption.This is key in exploring trends in media consumption for our 18-19 year old user group.
Multimedia Storytelling
Out of scope for News.
FIRST ITERATION
Staying in touch with your community through News.
PERSONALIZATION
To address personalizing experiences, I implemented functionality to save articles into groups.
SOCIAL
In creating a more community-forward experience, I suggested iMessage having a stronger presence in app, allowing users to highlight and comment on articles with their contacts.
FEEDBACK
"Apple hates socials—we also already have 'Shared with you.' What additional value does this bring?"
argued Wyatt Mitchell, Design Director of Services. And he's right. "Shared with You" is also owned by a team outside of the organization News is under.
SECOND ITERATION
47% of News+ Subscriptions Are Through iMessage Entry Points
PERSONALIZATION
I continued with the "Saving" motif, creating visual designs that are more aligned with Apple.
Offline Mode was a feature that was planned for the next iOS release. I partnered with Jay Robinson, Product Design, and Paul Young, Product, to include "Saved " as a feature to be included in Offline Mode.
SOCIAL
To address Wyatt's concern about leaning too far into socials, I implemented several solutions.
First, I eliminated the iMessage half-sheet and implemented a sharing experience similar to Apple Music's. I also continued to argue to the value of sharing through datapoints showing that 47% of News+ subscribers are through iMessage entry points.
FEEDBACK
"Still not sold…What value does this bring to the primary News+ experience?"
said Emmet Smith, Manager of News Design. "The vast majority of our users stay on the Today feed tab."
NEW PRIORITY
Value to News+ Today
In addition to Personalization and Social, adding value to News+'s core experience—the Today feed—will likely be a measure of high impact.
FINAL ITERATION
SOCIAL
Sharing with your community.
PERSONALIZATION
Choosing what you care about.
NEWS+ VALUE
User-curation in the Today Feed
When users create Collections, they are telling us what they want to read. That's prime information, especially in the news cycle. With Collections inspiring the Today feed, we get the right articles in the hands of those who we know want to read them
FOLLOW-UP
An opportunity at Apple is every product designer's dream. Here, I was reminded, again and again, of the bar for visual aesthetics. I also learned that storytelling is not only a tool for presentation, but something that informs the design of a product. Stories uncover value. And without a good story, where does the value of a product lie?