The Pittsburgh Tribune is a reputable news website covering Pittsburgh and its surrounding area. They have a number of different sites but this project focuses on the redesign of their local website.
Role
UX/UI Designer
Industry
News / Media
Duration
4 months
Identify
Before jumping into the research and designs we had to lay out some groundwork. We wanted to have an understanding of the problem we were facing and why.
Problem
As a local news website we cannot provide the most exciting and updated news at all times, leading to a decline in user interest. Many have forgotten the vital role that local journalism plays in the community.
The Plan
Redesign the local news platform to drive engagement and foster a strong sense of community. With personalized content and actionable features, create a platform where neighbors can share and stay informed on relevant news.
Research
Once we understood our problem we conducted research to learn more about the space. We conducted academic research, user research and competitive analysis. Some tools we used include Google Analytics, Chat Gpt, and Useberry.
Findings
Give users a reason to contribute
Promote user content and different features that help users feel involved and part of the community.
Make it obvious what users should do
Use clear calls to action and easy-to-use features so users know where to click and how to participate.
Ideate & Test
Taking into account our research findings we designed our first wireframes. We then tested them by having users complete tasks, card sort, answer questions, etc.
Test Findings
Navigation is confusing
“Post” button is getting skipped over
User bounce rate on "write article" page is high
Changes
Simplify nav bar
Strengthen “Post” button
Condense form on "write article" page
Build
After working closely with developers I was really happy with how the final product came out. Throughout the next couple months we continued to test and bug fix to make sure the site ran smoothly.
Learnings
Don’t be afraid to let go
We wasted a lot of time testing and rethinking potential solutions that we should have already ruled out and moved on from. An example of this is we tried to reinvent an article pop-up feature even after we tested and received feedback that users found pop-ups very disruptive.
Streamline presentations
When presenting I learned that the more concise the presentation the better. Similar to in design, giving too many options can cause the room to go on too many tangents, which slows up critical decision making.
Collaboration is key
Working with developers was a major part of this project. After we ran into some obstacles caused by miscommunication, I learned to keep them involved in every bit of the decision making.
Reiterate more
Along this journey there were times of misunderstanding and following poor leads. More reiteration would allow us to get rapid resolutions to mistakes and help us stay on track.