Yahoo News app
Yahoo acquired Artifact, a news app from the co-founders of Instagram. Leadership wanted its product inside the Yahoo News app, in Yahoo's design language, live in eight weeks. As the design lead of this initiative, I had to make quick decisions on what to keep and what to change, and find room to improve the experience without slowing the launch.
Role
Design lead. Evaluated the acquisition, then launched the app.
Keywords
Mobile app, acquisition, onboarding
Date
Q2 2024 launch and ongoing work for the rest of the year
Two main things worth keeping from Artifact, rebuilt in Yahoo's design language: 1. Key takeaways that summarize a story before you commit to reading it. Yahoo News already had this on desktop and mobile web, so keeping it allowed consistency with the rest of the product 2. A streak that gives people a reason to come back tomorrow. It fit Yahoo's branding well and was one of the strongest features in Artifact.
An exploration that treats news like a playlist: a set pick by mood, location and how much time you have, instead of an endless feed.
Onboarding is where I pushed hardest. We cut several sign-in options so new and returning readers could get in faster.
The second screen stopped being a step to get through and started showing what the new experience was for.
Then a quick topic selection, so a first-time reader saw something relevant instead of a generic feed.
I've created this animated logo for the sign in screen. It's the least interesting screen in the app and most users want to skip right through. Adding some delight to encourage people to pause.
A developing story pulled into one place: why it matters, who it affects, and how different outlets are covering it. Readers stop having to assemble the picture themselves. Solves the problem of needing to sift through information.
Work started a few weeks before the acquisition was public. In stealth I visualized what a merged product could be, proposed features, and planned how the two design teams would work together the day it was announced. Everything after was execution: shared work, design library and core system, brand and marketing, store material, code freeze, launch.
Next project: 2020 Elections
Design work and portfolio site made by Cat Tai