How we prototype news products at The Wall Street Journal
Only try to learn about one thing at a time when it comes to building prototypes, says WSJ’s Robin Kwong.
Takeaways
The whole point of prototyping in the newsroom is to create a focus for developers and engineers to tackle that problem. So keep the goals concise.
The WSJ has an idea portal through which everyone can submit their ideas for new tools and features.
Don’t rush. What might a prototype look like might only become clear after several rounds of meeting.
Establish clear roles and responsibilities within the team so that there are people directly responsible for delivering the prototype, people who are accountable, people whose opinions matter, and people who need to be kept in the loop.
Check out this prototyping template that Kwong uses at WSJ.
Context
It took a while for the concept of prototyping to arrive at journalism. From learning to code as a reporter to spearheading newsroom innovation at the WSJ, London-based Robin Kwong offered tips and guidance to equip newsrooms with a prototyping mindset.
As the newsroom innovation chief, Kwong runs a team of developers and designers to test new ideas by building working prototypes of tools, features, and products for the newsroom.
We profiled Kwong on Splice as part of our Leading Millennials series years ago. This time, we have him speaking at Beta about the definition of prototyping, why do it, and how to do it. He also shared how the WSJ has built one of its latest products: a six-week email newsletter course.
Kwong’s journey
Born and grew up in Hong Kong, he started his journalism career at South China Morning Post in 2006.
He spent 12 years with the Financial Times from 2007 as its Hong Kong reporter, Taiwan correspondent, and then to London as the tech and media editor.
He was also the FT’s interactive data journalist, special projects editor, and the head of digital delivery, which requires him to pioneer digital storytelling formats.
The mission of his team at the WSJ is to empower newsroom innovation through collaborative group-level development of new tools, formats and products.
Prototyping
What is a prototype?
A prototype demonstrates an idea in a way that provokes a reaction. It is not (always) a minimal viable product, because with the MVP, you often need to test the market, while many prototypes are only for internal use. It is not (always) a proof-of-concept nor A/B test variant either.
Why prototype?
The purpose is to learn user reaction, user experience, workflow, and technical solution.
How to prototype
Kwong shared a template for prototyping at the WSJ. He also explained WSJ’s Six-Week Money Challenge, a recent product prototype works. This is an automated, six-week email newsletter course to help readers improve their personal finances. Pointers:
Make goals. The team wanted to test the idea of evergreen newsletter content, and whether courses could be a new content category for the WSJ.
List problem statements for the user and newsroom. Readers want to channel their quarantine energy in a productive, worthwhile way. The personal finance team wants to make our coverage more accessible and useful.
Get feedback through different channels. Standard newsletter metrics such as open and click-through rates, as well as reader emails, internal feedback
Delegate roles and responsibilities. Establish a “RACI” system:
Responsible (project leads)
Accountable (the bosses)
Consulted (team members)
Informed (stakeholders).
Set priorities. Create something with a different tone of voice; use existing infrastructure and tools; learn from and improve on what’s out there
Build communication channels. Build a dedicated, project-specific Slack channel, do weekly team check-ins, especially useful when everyone’s remote, as well as tracking tasks.
Find inspiration and ideas from other short short-run newsletters/email courses. The personal finance writers draw a lot from recipes and food newsletters as the latter provides step-by-step instructions but people of any level can still have fun and learn something along the way.
Think about a distribution plan. How will people find and interact with the prototype? Is it going to be internal or external? Do a final check. Compare to the original goals when you think the prototypes are ready.