Advance Local, a digital media company with 18 media groups and over 52M MAU, faced low engagement on article pages with embedded content like newsletter sign-ups and recommendations. This hindered user retention, subscription growth, and content discovery, highlighted a need for UX improvements.
Enhanced article pages by optimizing embedded content and refining visual hierarchy. Used iterative usability testing and design improvements to boost content discoverability and drive key goals like newsletter sign-ups and improved user navigation.
Users are not engaging with embedded content, such as related articles, newsletter sign-ups, and author stories, leading to low click-through rates (CTR). The average CTR for our engagement modules is just 2.9%, compared to the industry average of ~4% for similar content. This significant gap indicates that these prompts are not effectively capturing user attention or driving meaningful interaction. As a result, we are missing opportunities for content discovery, subscription growth, and improved user engagement.
Through user research and usability testing, we identified key improvements in the integration of engagement elements. By aligning these features with the article's tone and brand identity, we made the prompts more relevant and natural for users. This strategic approach enhanced content placement and contextual relevance, resulting in higher click-through rates, increased interaction, and improved content consumption, ultimately supporting business goals like subscription growth and audience retention
The design process was iterative and nonlinear — insights at every stage led us to revisit ideas, refine prototypes, and adapt solutions to meet real user needs and technical constraints.
Our research helped in identifying the following problems with the our embedded content.
The content recommendations closely resembled the ad content, resulting in poor user engagement as they went largely unnoticed
The news widget needed to align with the content recommendations, but it lacked the branding elements, causing it to appear separate and disconnected.
The newsletter sign-up module had a resemblance to ad content and lacked visual appeal, making it less enticing. Additionally, it failed to provide crucial newsletter information that would have informed users about the newsletter's value.
My role initiated with conducting competitive analyses of prominent local news organizations, yielding invaluable insights into their content promotion strategies, content diversity, writing style, user experience, design, and the interactivity of their article pages on digital platforms.
I conducted thorough research to examine how other local news platforms embed content into their article page. This research allowed me to synthesize valuable data and insights, that helped me explore opportunities to increase user engagement and satisfaction.
Each concept focuses on seamlessly integrating the recommendations within the user's journey, ensuring they feel organic and relevant.
Before conducting usability testing with users, I first outlined objectives, goals and procedures in a usability testing plan document. This served as a rubric during testing sessions. A total of 18 participants were asked to complete a series of tasks tied to scenarios during unmoderated testing.
While there was some editorial curation in place, it often felt disconnected and rigid, making it hard for editors to consistently showcase stories in a clear and unified way. Based on insights from usability testing of the content recommendation module, I started sketching out ideas for a news widget that would give editors more flexibility and help readers discover content more easily.
The newsletter module felt a bit disconnected and lacked a clear brand identity, which made it look like an ad. To fix this, I made sure to incorporate the brand name, added info on how the newsletter is delivered, and used the platform's colors to give it a more unified and familiar feel for the readers.
I continued with conducting usability testing with users for the newsletter module, by outlined objectives, goals and procedures in a usability testing plan document. This served as a rubric during testing sessions. A total of 10 participants were asked to complete a series of tasks tied to scenarios during unmoderated testing.
We added helpful error messages for invalid or empty email entries, making it easier for users to fix mistakes quickly. A clear success state confirmed their sign-up, creating a smooth and trustworthy experience.
The redesigned engagement modules led to notable improvements in key metrics within three months: a 23% increase in click-through rates, driving more content discovery and ad revenue growth; a 26% rise in interactions, boosting session duration and traffic; and a 17% increase in newsletter sign-ups, reflecting higher user engagement. These results demonstrate the redesign's success in enhancing user engagement, ad revenue, and subscriptions.
As a product designer on this project, I navigated various constraints, balancing technical limitations with user needs. This challenged me to simplify complex situations into clear, effective design solutions.
I adopted this approach from the senior product designer, who stressed the importance of "over-communication" from the start. It was crucial in helping me fully understand and manage the project requirements at every stage.
I ensure precise padding and margin specifications in my designs to eliminate ambiguity and achieve pixel-perfect alignment during development.
