Newspaper.com

A user research project to understand subscriber value for newspaper.com through generative user interviews.

Project Overview

Introduction

After reviewing previous research, web and app analytics, and stakeholder requirements from the buying and onboarding product and design team with newspaper.com. We started looking at user value in order to help new subscribers and registered readers find value in the product. Our initial data has shown that readers who experience product value very quickly are more engaged and less likely to churn.

After ideating with managers on the product and design team, we decided to conduct a research project focussed on understanding user value through generative user interviews. 

I held 6 generative user interviews with subscribers who had an NPS (Net Promoter Score) of 9 or 10.

Project Goals and Objectives

Enhance the onboarding journey and overall experience for registered and anonymous newspaper.ca, with a focus on understanding user needs, pain points, and opportunities.

Research Objectives

Buying and Onboarding Team Objectives and Key Results

1. Help newly subscribed users experience product value
2. Create a frictionless onboarding journey from anonymous to subscribed user

Findings and Recommendations from Analytics Churn Research

• Annual subscribers are 3x less likely to churn
  • Acquire annual subscribers
  • Convert monthly subscribers to annual
• Initiate contact with new subscribers within 2 months of subscription
• Target users close to their last billing date/cycle
• Less than 100 articles/mo more likely to churn
• Incentivize users who have low frequency and recency to read more, more often

Research Questions

1. What do new subscribers value in our products?
2. What are the pain points for new subscribers?
3. How can we encourage new subscribers to stay subscribed for more than 60 days?
4. How can we encourage new subscribers to visit more often and spend more time with newspaper.ca products?
5. What part of the new subscriber journey has the most opportunities?
6. How do new subscribers use our products in their daily lives?

Research Methods

Interviews

In-depth generative interviews were conducted with new subscribers to explore their experiences and pain points around their decision to subscribe.

The interview guide was designed in collaboration with the product and design team to understand user feedback on the research questions. 

I am inspired by the work of

Bob Moesta: jobstobedone.org

Indi Young: indiyoung.com/books-time-to-listen

Cover and illustrations by Anna Iurchenko

Participant Recruitment Criteria

Email users with an invite to participate in a research interview for $30 Amazon Gift Card

1. Completed the brand sentiment survey
2. Subscribers: Flagship and broadsheet newspapers
3. Contact Consent: Brand sentiment survey respondents who gave us their email address for further contact
4. Brand Promoters: NPS Score of 8-10
5. Subscribed within the past 90 days

Project Timeline

Week 1 

1. Requirements gathering
2. Project planning with the project manager and stakeholders
3. Review past research and analytics team findings

Week 2

1. Generative interviews
2. Initial interview analysis

Week 3

1. Tagging and codifying transcripts
2. Analysis
3. Project report
4. Company presentation

Data Collection

I held 6 30-minute video generative interviews

This project was our team’s first test of a new video research interview platform Loopanel (looppanel.com). In our previous platform, users had to download an add-on or app. They often had tech/trust issues, and we needed to troubleshoot last minute, or users would no-show. Users found the loopannel experience easier and more trustworthy. 

• Loopannel connects an ai notetaker and video recording to our Microsoft Teams meeting. 
• The user (interviewee) experience is vastly improved. 
• Users trust Teams and Google.
• Users do not need to download any new add-on/app.

Analysis

The AI notetaker in Looppanel does a very good job of pulling key quotes and summarizing them.

1. I cleaned up/edited/added to the notes that the Looppanel AI made. 
2. Consolidated tags, notes, and quotes into thematic groups
3. Analyzed and summarized thematic groups
4. Created video reels for quotes – I love to make reels as a quick, powerful tool for building empathy for users in a large organization.

Key Insights and Recommendations

1. Subscriber Intent:

Insight: Subscribers value balanced reporting and appreciate newspaper.ca‘s commitment to objectivity.

Recommendations:

1. Emphasize and highlight the newspaper’s commitment to objective reporting on the website.
2. Showcase the diversity of perspectives within articles.

“there is always some element of the other side. So I find that the reporting seems to be, for the most part, fairly neutral and objective and factual and very informative.”

2. Daily Habits:

Insight: Even dedicated newspaper.com subscribers rely on a combination of news sources, including television broadcasts (CTV, CNN), print newspapers, online news websites, and aggregator apps. 

“Well, on television I tend to watch CTV, and I pop into CNN sometimes, and some of the broadcasts on public network I watch those as well.”

3. Letters to the Editor:

Insight: Our superfan subscribers engage with the Letters to the Editor section frequently.

Recommendations:

1. Simplify the Letters to Editor submission process on the website for enhanced user experience.
2. Increase the frequency of Letters to the Editor sections, particularly on Fridays and Saturdays.

“[I will write letters to the editor when I see] a story that either particularly pleases me enormously or angers me to a point I would frequently write in about a story about something stupid that the government has done, which is a frequent occurrence.”

4. Subscriptions:

Insights: 

1. Subscribers prioritize their support for local news and real journalism. One subscriber consciously chose not to cancel and re-subscribe during these promotions, emphasizing their commitment to support the Canadian press. This suggests that it is common practice to “churn” and re-subscribe for a sale.
2. Offers successfully drive subscriptions, even for long-time readers.

Recommendations:

1.  Ensure consistent and timely communication with subscribers, especially during subscription plan changes.
2. Continue highlighting the benefits of supporting local journalism.
3. Provide personalized special offers to retain loyalty when subscribers reduce frequency.

“I think a lot of people were canceling their subscriptions and resubscribing at the lower rate, and I purposely did not do that because I like to support real journalism. And I just want you to know that.”

5. Subscription Process:

Insights: Users find setting up subscriptions slightly complicated but manageable. Superfans are willing to put up with minor tech issues.

Recommendations:

1. Improve Communication: Ensure consistent and timely communication with subscribers when they make changes to their subscription plans. This includes both upgrade and downgrade scenarios to keep users informed of relevant offers or options.
2. Personalized Offers: Provide personalized special offers to subscribers who reduce their subscription frequency or switch to digital, as this can help retain their loyalty and keep them engaged with the newspaper.

“Oh, it’s fine, yeah. Might have been a little complicated, but not anything particularly difficult.”

6. Communications:

Insights: Subscribers experienced issues with communication and email responses. They emailed an author but did not receive a response, did not receive communication when switching to a digital-only subscription, and encountered problems with links in a welcome email.

Recommendations:

1. Improve communication responsiveness, especially regarding user-initiated contacts.
2. Enhance new subscriber email communications to provide valuable content and engagement opportunities.

“I got an email saying welcome, whatever, newspaper.com, and it gave me a list of actually other ones as well, too, but only two of them work”

7. ePaper:

Insights: 

4/6 use epaper for commenting, letters to editor, and “not missing articles”

Subscribers find the ePaper valuable for discovering articles they might have missed. They primarily use their phone for ePaper reading due to its portability, and they appreciate the read-aloud and text zoom features.

Recommendations:

1. Promote the ePaper’s features, such as read-aloud and text zoom, for enhanced engagement.
2. Address issues related to accessing articles from newsletters to improve user experience.

“sometimes it’s good because then you can scan through and think, oh, I missed that. I didn’t see that, or, I didn’t know that article was in there.”

8. Pain Points:

Insights:

1. Users encounter difficulties accessing articles from newsletters on the Financial Post app.
2. Users struggle to find information directly and address requests or issues.

Recommendations:

1. Resolve technical issues related to accessing articles from newsletters.
2. Improve the website’s accessibility for information and support.

“The other thing is sometimes hard to get to information directly to me from the post, responses to requests or issues. So it’s very hard to find somebody.”

Challenges and Lessons Learned

1. The marketing analytics team incorrectly identified new users. I intended to speak with readers who subscribed within the last 90 days. Unfortunately, minor account changes can trigger our analytics to reset the subscription date. I spoke with mostly long-time readers, and was not able to speak about the moment of subscription. Next time I will add this question to a screener survey and not rely on this metric from marketing analytics.
2. Insights from generative research span user experience across the entire organization. This research was intended to be for the Buying and Onboarding team. I pivoted to presenting findings with other teams. In the future, I will work with marketing and editorial teams earlier in the process.
3. The AI notetaker did a good job, but alongside manual notes, it created a lot of noise. We invite team members to watch live interviews, take manual notes, and ask questions. The AI note-taker rendered quick notes from the team unnecessary. In the future, I will cue team members to watch and leave only a few thoughtful notes on interesting insights.