Producing Mobile Magazines

04/12/2023

Lauri Eloranta / Futurice Ltd. 2013-03-07.

Producing Mobile Magazines

Based on lessons learned from

9 Steps of Mobile

Magazine Design

1. Select the platform

2. Know the guidelines

3. Do dynamic design

4. Utilize the right kind of media

5. Think about the business logic

6. Data is everything! (design with analytics)

7. Enable sharing, think about user generated content

8. Prototype!

9. Think about the overall journalistic process

1. What is the target platform?

1. 1. Is it right for your customers? 2. Right for your readers? 3. Right for your business objectives? 4.Right for your

current technical solutions? 5. Right for your investment levels? 6. Right for your magazine concept?

PLATFORM WARS

Native Application vs. Web application

=

Optimal for one vs. Mediocre for all

It’s all about the money.(and about the business case)

2. Know the platform guidelines! (Official Design Patterns, Interaction

Patters, Design Principles)

There is always an official design guideline to follow: if you do not have one you are doing something wrong!

Balance between:

Magazine look & feelvs.

Platform look & feel

3. Do dynamic design

Traditional magazine is about static paper layout and full

control.

Mobile magazines are all about

A PDF file is not a mobile

magazine.

»Forget static layouts

»Design for change»Design for interaction

»Design for surprise

4. Utilize the right kind of media

»Images»Audio»Videos

»Animations»Location!

Media companies are just learning how to combine

media. We are at the very

beginning.

NY Times: Snow Fall – The Avalance at Tunnel Creek

http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunnel-

creek

5. Think about the business logic

Do not forget the adverts.

Be creative in ad design, the possibilities are endless.

(gesture based ads, augmented reality ads, location aware, user profiling based, user action based…)

Who pays for the magazine and how? How

does the design encourage purchases?

What are the distribution channels (linked directly

to the platform)?

6. Data is everything! (Design with analytics)

Without DATA you are

NOTHING!

» Data is used to link the usage to the journalistic process

» Data is used to sell ads (to advertisers)

» Data is used to configure content

» Data is used to configure ads

» Use at least Google Analytics as a bare minimum

NO DATA MEANS NO BUSINESS CASE!

»Iterative design based on actual

user data»A/B testing

»Design linked to actual business

goals

7. Enable sharing and think about user generated

content

Your magazine does not exist without social

media.

Possibility: Users as journalists? How do you cater for user generated

content?LOOK MUM! I AM A FOOD

JOURNALIST!

8. Prototype!

Try things out early on: sketch, prototype, test

and get your hands dirty!

Paper prototypes are an easy way to get rapid feedback on magazine

interaction design.

There are plenty of interactive prototyping

tools for various platforms.

9. What about the whole journalistic process?

PARTY LIKE IT’S 1450!

The journalistic process is basically unchanged.

Black box of content generation

A Journalist Creates Content

(black box)

The content is laid out with ads

The content is

distributed in (static) channels

Where are the feedback loops? Why do we still generate content based on the

old rules of static daily media?

The distribution and consumption have changed, but the journalistic tools are

still the same.

DON’T WORRY, A REVOLUTION IS COMING.

(tens and tens of media start-ups disrupting the field)

Thank you!Questions & Comments: Twitter /

@laurieloranta

References for the images used:

http://www.5forcesofchange.com/about/articles/article-lessons-president-obama-leading-change-hr-director-magazine/

Eric Carlen, Kameleontti Kaikenkirjava (Weilin+Göös 1985)

http://ebooks.ebeyonds.com/hospitality.html

http://nyt.fi/20130107-seuraa-tabloidin-tekoa-hs-fissae/

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Data

http://mojomedialabs.com/what-is-ab-testing/

http://pohtpof.tumblr.com/page/3

http://printingparadise.wordpress.com

http://faithincommunity.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/pity-poor-typewriter.html

http://www.yellowdaymovie.com/2013/01/les-miserables-and-the-idea-of-grace/

http://www.fastcompany.com/1787558/igenius-steve-jobs-mythbusters-making-documentary-tribute