Finding Short Interesting Stories
Product Development
Whenever I visit a new city, I am not like most tourists that are captivated by the sights. Rather, I am drawn to the people. I wonder where the people I pass by come from and where they are going. When I moved to San Francisco, I knew that most people were involved in the tech industry in some way. When I walk around the city, I always look at people’s backpacks branded with their company logo. I wonder what their story is and how they contribute to the product whose logo is embroidered on their bag. After all, San Francisco is the mecca for technology. In a world where everyone spends the majority of their leisure time looking down at their cell phones, I often find it difficult to come across short and substantial articles that capture my interest.
I am drawn to people’s personal stories, and was particularly lured by the small narratives recounting people’s experiences in “Humans of New York”. Rather than read about politics or trending articles, I rather become familiar with the people that make up the fabric of my city by reading about their experiences. Although there is a lot of content on the web, I find it difficult to stumble upon material that is truly engaging. My friends share my same frustration, and wish that there were better tools for serving content to users that is tailored to their particular interests. In my case, I am captivated by topics that have a sociological flavor, and rather spend my time reading articles that touch upon this theme.
The Trends
Political
Given the intense political climate nowadays, a lot of the content that is served is political in nature. In addition, it is difficult to encounter articles that are not partial to any political party. There is certainly no shortage of material on the web that covers politics. However, there are not a lot of sources that merely provide facts without interjecting an opinion. Many turn to social media platforms like Twitter for their daily digest of current events and, oftentimes, 280 characters can convey powerful messages.
Economic/Demographic
Considering the amount of free material on the web, most people find it illogical to pay for access to content. Newspapers have been substituted by online subscriptions. Most people are busy, but still want to remain informed about current events or read about subjects that interest them. Tech entrepreneurs might turn to sources like ‘Fast Company’ and ‘Wired’, while business people would rather spend their time reading ‘Forbes’ and ‘Business Insider’. Most millenials probably prefer access to free content that is digitized. On the other hand, an older demographic might opt for printed content.
Social
People not only want to read, but also want to converse with those who share similar interests. For this reason, digitized content incorporates interactive features like a comments section. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have turned reading the news into a social experience. In addition, platforms such as Reddit and Quora allow users to delve into deep discussions on just about any topic.
Technological
A lot of people, including myself, find themselves reading content that interests them during a commute or break. Given the time shortage, information must be accessible and concise. Mobile devices offer the benefits of accessing content quickly at the palm of your hand. In an age where everyone is looking down at their phones, mobile devices offer users the convenience of having everything at their disposal through one interface.
Competitive Analysis
The Current Options and The Problem
When you think about media outlets, several platforms come to mind such as:
Reddit
Twitter
Facebook
Quora
Medium
The New York Times
Although the main goal of these platforms is to serve content, each site has its own flavor. In the past, people turned to news sources like ‘The New York Times’ and magazines like ‘The Economist’ to read up on current trends. Unlike most modern sources, this content is written by journalists and undergoes thorough review before being published. Online publishing platforms, like Medium, have allowed anyone to post their work. These platforms have signaled a shift from the dry and rigid structure of major news sources.
For even shorter glimpses of current affairs, Twitter has become a popular source. Users can read tweets that condense news articles into 280 characters or less. In addition, Twitter offers a way to keep up with the lives of friends and public figures. Another popular source of information is Reddit, which is a massive forum of topics. Redditors can browse through subreddits, or threads regarding a particular topic, and participate in discussions amongst other users. Platforms like Quora take a question and answer approach where users ask a question and other users, preferably experts on the topic, provide answers.
Each platform is unique in the way that they transmit information. Whenever I take a breather and need a distraction, I find myself switching between a combination of these applications and am not loyal to a single one. There is a need for a platform where a user can curate his/her own content without the need to browse through multiple sources. Although existing applications offer a wealth of information, they are not customizable. I find myself wasting too much time sifting through content that I am uninterested in. If I can minimize the amount of time that I spend searching for something interesting to read, I can learn more about the topics that truly interest me.
User Interviews
An application that curates content based on a user’s interest has no particular target audience. Everyone, from adolescents to adults, uses some sort of application for entertainment purposes or to stay informed. I decided to ask around and see what resources people use to read about their interests. I interviewed three people, each of which belongs to a different age bracket. Mariana, 18, is a college student studying programming in San Francisco. Melanie, 26, is a Software Engineer. Lenny, 56, is a business owner. I asked all three interviewees the same set of questions to get a feel for their personal preferences, specifically:
What do you do when you are bored or distracted?
Do you use any mobile or web applications for entertainment? If so, which ones?
What resources do you use to stay informed? Do you prefer to use one or multiple?
What topics interest you within these resources?
In answering my questions, all three interviewees used some sort of electronic device as a form of diversion. Whether a cell phone or a tablet, electronics were used to access content. Mariana entertains and informs herself using online resources, particularly social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. We are both drawn to stories about people’s experiences, and she enjoys looking at posts made by ‘Humans of New York’. Melanie has an online subscription to ‘The New York Times’ to stay updated on current events, but prefers to read physical books for entertainment. She enjoys good writing in general, regardless of the genre, and is subscribed to ‘The New Yorker’ which she accesses online. She is willing to pay for subscriptions if the quality of the writing is better than that of platforms like Medium. Lenny watches the nightly news to stay informed on current events and has an online subscription to ‘The New York Times’. He wakes up early in the mornings and reads only the articles that interest him on his iPad, particularly trending stories. He entertains himself by constantly learning about new topics through online lectures via YouTube. I was able to draw one main conclusion between all three interviewees: there is no single source of information that people frequent for entertainment or information.
The Solution
The observations of my own behaviors, as well as those of others, has led me to draw one conclusion: there is no single source that people go to for content. While popular platforms like Reddit and Quora contain a wealth of information, it is time consuming to sift through all the articles or threads to find only a few that actually spark your interest.
My solution would be to scrape data from these platforms and classify it. In order to do this programmatically, I would create text files corresponding to every category. I would then populate each file with keywords that are most commonly seen with respect to that category. For instance, if the category is ‘entertainment’, related words are ‘movie’, ‘actor’, ‘actress’, ‘film’, etc. I would then perform a keyword search of the scraped data against my files in order to classify the data.
Users would be able to select the category that he/she wishes to read about on the UI. The articles contained within the user’s selection would come from the major content sources, but would all be accessible from a single application. This would not only save them time, but would also maximize their chances of finding something interesting to read. The wireframes below show a use case for my application on a mobile device. If the ‘anecdotes’ category is chosen, a user is directed to a new view containing only anecdotes.
iOS wireframes for accessing curated content through one platform
The Conclusion
During my free time, I find myself spending more time looking for something interesting to read than reading something interesting. Too much time is wasted switching back and forth between Reddit, Quora, and Twitter. The perfect solution is to have one singular application where I can curate my own content that comes from my favorite online sources. If we could only see content that interests us, we would not only save time, but also enrich our minds even further.