Reporter – Redesign

REPORTER REDESIGN

CLIENT School Project

ROLE Concept, Research, Visual Design

DURATION February - March 2017

CLIENT School Project

ROLE Concept, Research, Visual Design

DURATION February - March 2017

The Reporter is a monthly print based Magazine based in Rochester Institute of Technology. The content is managed mainly by students and Targets a tech-savvy yet artistic community in RIT.

PROBLEM SUMMARY

The current Reporter site is uninspiring and lacks a connection to the printed issue.The website lacks the visual hierarchy to separate the content of the website. The website lacks the look and feel of a magazine and needs a much-needed facelift to engage users.

PROBLEM SUMMARY

The current Reporter site is uninspiring and lacks a connection to the printed issue.The website lacks the visual hierarchy to separate the content of the website. The website lacks the look and feel of a magazine and needs a much-needed facelift to engage users.

Current Reporter website

RESEARCH RESULTS

I wanted to come up with a better solution through some preliminary user research before starting the design solution. I conducted interviews with students and noticed a pattern in their opinions and observations.

"The homepage is so cluttered with content that I don't know where to start. It is pretty intimidating.”

Lack of visual hierarchy and progressive disclosure in the website leads to a cluttered and challenging experience.

"The homepage is so cluttered with content that I don't know where to start. It is pretty intimidating.”

Lack of visual hierarchy and progressive disclosure

“I wish there was a way to see the number of people who have read, liked and shared an article. It would help see what's trending”

Lack of content information and important secondary information. Users want to know what is popular.

“I wish there was a way to see the number of people who have read, liked and shared an article. It would help see what's trending”

Lack of content information and hierarchy. Users want to know what is popular.

“Magazines are not just content heavy, they are visually stunning to look at, I want better images and presentation of information."

People want to engage with more visual content and be more attracted by imagery and visuals.

“Magazines are not just content heavy, they are visually stunning to look at, I want better images and presentation of information."

People want to engage with more visual content

“Magazines are not just content heavy, they are visually stunning to look at, I want better images and presentation of information."

People want to engage with more visual content

PROJECT GOALS

Based on the preliminary research results I was able to establish 4 primary goals from this project. The goals focused primarily on visual design due to project requirements and I took this opportunity to dive deeper into the visual design process and improve my workflow and my technical vocabulary.

Create an efficient and easy to scan website

The solution would allow users to scan information easily and efficiently allowing them to better navigate the page better and access content faster.

Create an efficient and easy to scan website

The solution would allow users to scan information easily and efficiently allowing them to better navigate the page better and access content faster.

A visually engaging design solution

Much like a magazine the content would be visually stimulating and engaging.

A visually engaging design solution

Much like a magazine the content would be visually stimulating and engaging.

Effective print media integration

A design solution that will manage the complexity of the content and accommodate integration with external/printed media issues.

A new brand identity

Give the Reporter a new personality to create a better user-product association.

MOOD BOARD

The idea of a dark underground look for a college magazine really resonated with me. I was inspired by futuristic movie posters, sports brands, and sci-fi films. The challenge for me was translating these ideas into a user-friendly experience.

WIREFRAMES

I wanted to enhance the use of imagery hence I went for bold shapes, large image boxes and sleek and minimal content architecture. I wanted to explore the idea of relating the popularity of content with the visual design to further enhance content hierarchy. I came up with the idea of content boxes that were scaled based on popularity, thus informing the user what's popular visually instantly.

VISUAL DESIGN

I attempted to address the goals I had set for this project through my visual design solution. I focused on the overall visual design as well as some surface level UI details.

Bold and Engaging Visuals

Research showed users felt the content was not visually engaging. I wanted to focus on creating a design solution that made use of engaging imagery and bold layouts to attract the users to the website.

Bold and Engaging Visuals

Research showed users felt the content was not visually engaging. I wanted to focus on creating a design solution that made use of engaging imagery and bold layouts to attract the users to the website.

Tag-Based content sorting

Articles sorted by tags to improve and speed up content access. This would also improve and make the search experience efficient.

Content hierarchy through scale

Users felt lost in the main content page as it lacked any kind of content hierarchy. In my design solution, I employ a grid structure with variably scaled content areas to bring attention to some articles as well as break out of the monotony.