NYT Home
Amidst today’s complex and fragmented media landscape, The New York Times stands out as a trusted source of information. With its wide range of content and features available to subscribers, intuitive navigation and strong discoverability are essential to highlighting what makes the Times so valuable. This study explores potential UX enhancements aimed at supporting that goal.
Role
UX Designer
DEFINE
I believe Personalization and Navigation drive engagement.
Currently, it looks as though the main form of navigation is done through the categorical drop-downs in blue, with the other subscriber feature sets found in grey section. I want to explore how to make this navigation more prominent and the content within it easier to discover.
Additionally, the volume of information presented in the red and green sections of the homepage can feel overwhelming, making it easy for readers to lose their place. Improving navigation and introducing more personalized elements could help guide readers more effectively and enhance their overall experience.
DESIGN
Personalization
The first (lo-fi) personalization UX enhancement in this design is the Story Tracker at the top. Currently it can be difficult to track down articles related to a topic. Encapsulating them and highlighting them on the home page could allow users to keep track of the stories they are interested in that span longer periods of time.
The second personalization enhancement is the For You section on the right panel of the page. Here the tabs allow users to more easily toggle between "Editor Pick" articles and other personalized topics that we auto-generate based on user habits. This gives users the ability to discover new randomized articles and topics, while also giving them control over topics they are interested in.
I believe more personalization like the features suggested above could enhance reader engagement.
Navigation
First, the Top Stories navigation tool on the left screenshot allows users to navigate through the top headline stories of the day, without needing to scroll through the entire page. Adding numbers next to each top story also keeps the user oriented within the hierarchy of information as they scroll deeper down the page.
Second, the Hovering Toolbar on the bottom could serve as a dynamic way for subscribers to engage with their various features. Expanding the Categories section for example gives the user the ability to explore categories in detail without leaving the home page. The user can edit and personalize the toolbar, so they can include anything from live news and The Daily, to the NYT Cooking and Games apps.
Using AI
One challenge I’ve had as a NYT reader is in searching through the vast history of articles to get the information I need. I think AI could be a tool that does that work for me, and glues these bits of information together into a cohesive article. Using an AI chat assistant in the screenshots above, the user could generate a new article that pulls from existing NYT articles on broader topic entries like “Immigration in America”. The generated article would still reference the original articles and writers so the reader can dive deeper into the source content.
