IF YOU read ONE THING
When user research meets trust in news

Trust continues to be a problem for news organizations (among other institutions), but studies have shown that increased transparency might be part of the solution. By offering insight into how a news story came together, such as who a journalist talked to for a story or the reasoning behind reporting choices, organizations may be able to improve trust among readers. But making that information available to readers is only half of the equation—readers have to be able to find it, too. In a follow-up study from the Center for Media Engagement, researchers found that a majority of readers did not notice “Behind the Story” cards—a card that includes information about why and how a story was written—when placed in-line with a news article’s text. “This study and other user research we’ve conducted at McClatchy shows that readers skim over elements outside the story body, especially non-text-based elements that can be confused with advertising,” Abby Reimer, senior manager of UX (user experience) and strategic projects for McClatchy, told Nieman Lab. So what can news organizations do to change that? Test, measure, and see what solution works the best for your audience: The researchers ultimately concluded that “while the contents of the card may be valuable to readers, newsrooms need to ensure that it is highly visible. Newsrooms and researchers should continue testing different designs that could draw readers’ attention to trust and transparency efforts.” 

POWERSTAT

The majority of U.S. adults—on both sides of the political aisle—distrust election news found on Facebook, according to Pew Research. Meanwhile, news aggregation sites such as Yahoo News, Google News, and Apple News are among platforms audiences distrust the least.

Source: Pew Research

TREND WATCH
Can this app take a Byte out of TikTok?

For a few years, it seemed as though the social media power players (as far as monthly active users go) were set: There was Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Snapchat. With the meteoric rise of TikTok this past year, though, it’s clear that the field is prone to disruption—and there may be even more disruptors on the horizon. For those who remember Vine—a platform similar to TikTok that shut down in 2017—its spiritual successor Byte hit the app stores this past week. In this fast-paced world, it features the same short looping videos that made Vine popular, along with ways to discover and create content. With some controversy around TikTok’s involvement with the Chinese government, Byte aims to beat TikTok by promising to support content creators: “Many creators who’ve grown popular on apps like TikTok and Snapchat that lack direct monetization have tried to pull their audiences over to YouTube where they can earn a steady ad-share,” TechCrunch’s Josh Constine writes. “By getting started paying early, Byte might lure some of those dancers, comedians, and pranksters over to its app and be able to retain them long-term.” The app is already gaining traction: In its first week, Byte was downloaded more than 750,000 times, according to app analytics company SensorTower. For a primer on how to possibly use Byte for your own organization, we recommend this Nieman Lab article showcasing how news organizations are using TikTok to raise brand awareness with those on the platform.

NEWS YOU CAN USE
Mark your 2020 (design) calendars

Organizations have been increasingly interested in UX, with mounting evidence that a good user experience creates deeper customer engagement and loyalty. One way to deepen your knowledge on the practice is to step out of the office and attend a design conference: Whether you’re an experienced UX’er, dedicated to User Interface design, or just looking to learn the basics, check out InVision’s global list of 2020 Design and UX Conferences to see if one is coming near you.

For our U.S.-based subscribers:

• Experience Design 2020. Held in Denver, Colorado, from February 24-26, this conference offers learnings about experience design best practices from industry leaders with sessions targeted to both your specific function and sophistication of organizational experience design implementation.
• South by Southwest (SXSW). Join leaders from design, technology, and media in Austin, Texas, from March 13-21 to talk advertising and brand experience, experiential storytelling, and of course, design as problem-solving. (We’ll be there, too. Come say hello!)
• An Event Apart DC. Taking place in our own backyard from April 13-15, An Event Apart DC is a three-day conference with 17 sessions and an intense focus on digital design, UX, content, code, and more, “giving you deep insights into where we are now and where things are going next.”

• Check out upcoming conferences happening in Milan, Italy; Chandigarh, India; London, United Kingdom; and Copenhagen, Denmark.

PERSPECTIVES
The Guardian goes greener

This week, The Guardian announced that it will no longer accept fossil fuel advertising in its publication. This move makes it the first news organization to launch a ban of this type on advertising dollars from oil and gas companies. Although the ban will negatively impact the news outlet financially, The Guardian’s acting chief executive, Anna Bateson, and the chief revenue officer, Hamish Nicklin, said in a joint statement, “Our decision is based on the decades-long efforts by many in that industry to prevent meaningful climate action by governments around the world.” Last year, the online publication adjusted its style guide to reflect global environmental challenges, moving from words such as “climate change” and “global warming” to “climate emergency” and “global heating.” Here’s how some reacted to the announcement:

• “This is a watershed moment, and The Guardian must be applauded for this bold move to end the legitimacy of fossil fuels.” — Mel Evans, senior climate campaigner for Greenpeace UK (The Guardian)
• “A good start, who will take this further?” — Greta Thunberg, climate and environmental activist (Twitter)
• “This is what we need! Who else is taking this up!” — Vanessa Nakate, founder of The Rise Up Movement (Twitter)
• “Guardian to renounce fossil fuel advertising. Big measure. But a crisis calls for big measures.” — Mark Rice-Oxley, reporter at The Guardian (Twitter)

• “The public perception has changed. They expect their cultural institutions, they expect their media, to be responsible citizens.” — Douglas McCabe, director of publishing and tech at Enders Analysis (The New York Times)

This week in our office

The new emoji list for 2020 is out, delighting several members of our staff, and leaving one A57 staff member to ask, “Is there a baby Yoda??” Some staff favorites included the seal, boba tea, and the dodo bird.

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