NZZ: A new concept for the front-page

To prepare the procedure, we were in close consultation with the internal Research/UX team and analysed the research reports of the last five years.

First of all, we held an ideation workshop with the editorial team, where wishes and ideas were recorded, clustered and prioritised. Various stakeholders from the entire NZZ organisation took part:

• Editorial team (text & image)
• Data analysts
• Head of Technology
• Product Manager

It was decided to pursue a mobile-first approach. Not only should the design of the front-page follow this principle, but the entire newsroom should apply a mobile-first approach to display and maintain news on the front.

In another workshop, we printed out the new ideas as “wireframe teasers” to create paper prototypes. We formed four groups, each of which was tasked with designing a front page. Each group consisted of a balanced mix of professionals who brought their respective perspectives to the prototypes and designs. This allowed us to achieve valuable and diverse results, which we then discussed.

The wide variety of perspectives and requirements of the stakeholders presented us with a particular challenge, as we had to fulfil the wishes of the various divisions and departments without losing sight of our main target group – the readers of the NZZ.

We were also faced with the challenge of not only fulfilling the needs of the readership, but also taking into account the requirements of the newsroom and editorial staff, who have to work with the new approach on a daily basis.

New teaser formats:
In order to visually emphasise the importance of the news on mobile devices, new teaser formats have been introduced with which the newsroom can add visual weight to the articles. Current events can be emphasised with a large teaser, while less demanding articles are presented with smaller teasers. This provides orientation and guidance for readers and improves the overview, as the smaller teasers take up less space on mobile devices.

Container for timeless articles:
A new function has been introduced for so-called long-form articles, which are characterised by timeless topics and comprehensive research: they can now be placed between the daily news in containers that can be navigated using slider gestures. This gives readers access to the daily news in a vertical direction and to the timeless articles in a horizontal direction.