It's very interesting seeing the difference between online and published news sources. Online sources have the ability to take the user to another article within the click of a button, and allows the user to search via their search bar as well. It's also super quick to navigate between stories, in comparison to flicking back and forth through pages. The online resources have an advantage because of this stage of the user journey, which allows a fast transition between stories and articles. Published news articles have a benefit in a sense that the user may become more engaged due to the materiality of the newspaper itself, and physically being in contact with the resource.
For my first article from Dominion Post, I chose an article names "Meet Grey's new Kiwi McHunky" (attached below). It wasn't so much the content of the article that drew me to it, it was more the scale of the images and story that caught my attention. The story took up the whole page, with the main image taking up about a quarter of the page, and being placed right in the middle of the page. The article was located in the TV Guide section, one of the few articles in that section of the paper. It was fitting to be in the TV Guide section as it was talking about a TV show, Grey's Anatomy.
The second article I chose a sport article (attached below) which had a secondary article along with it. The secondary article seemed similar to a "Next Story" link on an online news site, which encourages the reader to read another similar story. The reason I chose this article was definitely because of the content, as football appeals to me a great deal. The layout of the page wasn't too appealing, as the heading was squeezed into a small box on the left hand side, as shown in the wireframe (in my physical workbook). The way that the columns are arranged is also quite random. This article was located within the sport section of the newspaper.
Below is my third choice of article from the Dominion Post. Although another sports article, the reason I chose it is because it consisted of slightly different editorial components such as the previous results column, with multiple lists within the columns. The layout of this article is what drew me to it, as the article itself takes up the whole page vertically, and about 4/5 of the page horizontally, so it's predominantly the scale that caught my attention.
In terms of online news sources, it's interesting to note the ability to transition quickly between links, and the speed of navigation via the online news sources. Options such as "more stories", "related articles" and "previously read" also allow the user to find more suitable stories for them, as well as backtrack and retrace their steps if they're trying to find an article they previously read and found interesting.
Below I have attached my initial article, which is 'stuff"s web version of the article I analysed in Dominion Post. One of the things I like is how they have the top of the secondary photo appear slightly in the screen, as a subtle indicator to keep scrolling. The social media icons are a great tool which then allow users to share the article as well.
Below is my second article, which is based on Manchester City winning the Capital One Cup. The good thing about having this article online, is the fact that you can include video footage and highlights, which will of course increase interest by giving the user a chance to view footage of the game rather than just see a still photo from the game. Further down are some photos as well as the article as well. Down the bottom is a comments section which allows readers to post comments for other users to see, and is also a tool of communication between 'stuff' users. I quite like how the banner up the top of the page changes colour based on the category in which the article falls under.
My third article choice has been posted below. Unlike the Dominion Post's published article, this one doesn't actually include previous results. However, through the search bar and 'related articles' sections I'm sure it'd be easy enough for the user to navigate through and find the results if they wanted to do so. However, there could be somewhere which directly links to the past results as in improvement, to minimize the amount of work the user has to do, and make their journey on the site a lot easier.
I'm looking forward to seeing how I can redesign either of these, depending on which one I choose. When recreating them, I'm going to focus strongly on creating an easy and clear user experience, so they aren't confused or lost at any point. The key aspect will be for simple navigation of the site and between articles. The online stuff articles aren't too aesthetically appealing, and although the navigation is quite basic I believe it could definitely be improved a great deal, by changing the location of things, as well as the general aesthetic of each page.
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