2. START WITH READER INPUTSTART WITH READER INPUT END WITH READER INPUTEND WITH READER INPUT
User Centered Design Product to Market Fit

3. WHY THIS IS STRATEGICALLYWHY THIS IS STRATEGICALLY
IMPORTANT TO THE SEATTLE TIMES?IMPORTANT TO THE SEATTLE TIMES?
Gain a Foothold with Gen X and Gen Y
Reaching a Market Segment
That likes Apps

4. THE STEPS SO FARTHE STEPS SO FAR
VS

5. WHY APPS?WHY APPS?

6. EXPRESSED PREFERENCE- NEWSEXPRESSED PREFERENCE- NEWS
*Sources: IAB, Apps and Mobile Web: Understanding the Two Sides of the Mobile Coin, 16 December 2014; comScore, Mobile Metrix Key Measures,
US Only, October 2014, News/Information Category; Seattle Times Consumer Insights, Biz-Tech Survey, April 2015; Scarborough, 2014 Release 2
Total (Sep 2013 – Aug 2014)
Apps Both Apps and
mobile web
Mobile web
25%25%
31%
35%
25%
0%
EXPRESSED PREFERENCES -NEWSEXPRESSED PREFERENCES -NEWS TIME SPENT -NEWS/INFORMATIONTIME SPENT -NEWS/INFORMATION
43%
57%
Apps Mobile web

7. OUR TARGET AUDIENCE USES APPSOUR TARGET AUDIENCE USES APPS
*Source: AOR, January 2014 (Base: Adults in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett MD
Use news apps on a phone
daily for local news
Use news apps on a tablet
daily for local news
Receive news alerts on
a mobile device
Use news apps on a tablet
daily for local news
Receive news alerts on
a mobile device
88%
83%
65%
43%
36%
CONNECTED NEWS TECHIESCONNECTED NEWS TECHIES CAREER FOCUSED URBANITESCAREER FOCUSED URBANITES

8. SPEED MATTERSSPEED MATTERS
*Source: Google Analytics
Nov-14 (previous) Apr-15 (current)
0
2,500,000
4,500,000
PAGEVIEWSPAGEVIEWS
iOS
Android
*Source: Google Analytics
Nov-14 (previous) Apr-15 (current)
0
5
10
PAGE LOAD TIMEPAGE LOAD TIME
iOS
Android

9. INDUSTRY LANDSCAPEINDUSTRY LANDSCAPE
The LA Times Native App
The New York Times Native App
San Francisco Chronicle Native App
Chicago Tribune Native App
The Washington Post Native App
Minneapolis Star Tribune Native App
San Jose Mercury News Native App
Buzzfeed Native App
Dallas Morning News Native App
KING 5 Native App
KIRO 7 Native App
Q13 Fox Native App
KOMO Native App
The Seattle Times Wrapper App

10. INTERVIEWSINTERVIEWS
1010
One Hour
In-Person Interviews
1010
One Hour
In-Person Usability Tests
600600
People completed
an online survey

11. WHAT WE LEARNED FROM OUR RESEARCHWHAT WE LEARNED FROM OUR RESEARCH

12. WHY A NATIVE APP?WHY A NATIVE APP?

13. PAGE VIEWS PER SESSIONPAGE VIEWS PER SESSION
SPEED AND PERFORMANCESPEED AND PERFORMANCE
3X3X
3X3X
*Based on the old app's speed advantage

14. BUILDING OUT NEWBUILDING OUT NEW
SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURESOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE

15. TOUR OF THE APPTOUR OF THE APP
WHAT WILL THE APP LOOK LIKE?WHAT WILL THE APP LOOK LIKE?
?
Sleek and simple design to
appeal to our demographic
Different layouts to fit
different reading styles
Swipe through options to
encourage a longer interaction

16. APP GESTURE INTERACTIONSAPP GESTURE INTERACTIONS
Swipe Between Sections Swipe Between Stories

17. WE DIDN'TWE DIDN'T
FORGET IPAD USERSFORGET IPAD USERS

18. BUILDING AN MVPBUILDING AN MVP
MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCTMINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT

19. FUTUREFUTURE
FUNCTIONALITYFUNCTIONALITY
Custom Push Notifications
Section Preferences
Save for Later System
Personalization

20. TIMELINETIMELINE
MVPMVP : MARCH: MARCH
Go-To-Market
V1V1 : MAY: MAY V2V2: AUGUST: AUGUST

21. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE NEWSROOM?WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE NEWSROOM?
No Additional Curation
Push Notifications for Breaking News
Geo-Fencing

22. FOLLOWING THE CURATION LOGIC OF THE WEBSITEFOLLOWING THE CURATION LOGIC OF THE WEBSITE

23. MONETIZATIONMONETIZATION

24. WHAT ABOUT OUR FRIENDS W/ ANDROID?WHAT ABOUT OUR FRIENDS W/ ANDROID?

25. HOW DO WE KNOW WE SUCCEEDED?HOW DO WE KNOW WE SUCCEEDED?
80,000 MAU80,000 MAU
40,000 MAU40,000 MAU
End of Q4 2016

26. WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP?
Sign up for the alpha test!
email: tmahoney@seattletimes.com

27. THE CONTRIBUTORSTHE CONTRIBUTORS
Project Manager | Tyler Mahoney
Developer | Dan Bair
Developer | Brian Watanabe
Developer | Greg Anderson
QA | Sharon Bruhn
Scrum Leader | Tom Bain Designer | Brittany Snyder
Newsroom Support | Denise Clifton
Creative Support | Laura McAdoo
Consumer Insights | April Armstrong

28. THANK YOUTHANK YOU
MOBILE TEAM