Festival2012/Submit/Touch the news

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Example Session Proposal: Touch the news

This is based on a session organized last year.

  • Title of session: Design a tablet app for the news.
  • Your name and affiliation: Geeks of London & The Boston Globe
  • Session format (select Design Challenge, Learning Lab, or Fireside Chat): Design Challenge

What will your session or activity allow people to make, learn or do?

The recent launch of BostonGlobe.com wow’ed the web world with its use of HTML5 and responsive design approach. Working in small, multi-disciplinary teams, we challenge you to envision a tablet-optimised version of the Boston Globe.

Our key questions: How can it appeal to a younger, app-savvy audience? What interactions and navigation concepts could make this a news experience that stands out? How can it utilise native tablet functionality through HTML5?

Participants will learn:

  • How to paper prototype
  • The basics of responsive design & user-experience design
  • How to use native device functions via HTML5

Participants will make:

  • A paper prototype of a tablet-optimized news site.
  • A code snippet to access functions on their device.

How do you see that working?

  1. We will break into small groups of different skill-sets: designers, journalists, developers, readers
  2. Groups will sketch & paper prototype their initial concept out your concepts.
  3. Then we'll test the concepts and iterate.

We will have research information on the Boston Globe’s audience and design principles as well as content that you can use in your prototypes ready for you. Apart from the facilitators, who will be there with help, advice, and information on HTML5 and UX/design, the Boston Globe team will be to hand with subject-matter expertise.

How will you deal with 5, 15, 50 participants?

  • With 5 participants: We'll form one group and all work together.
  • with 15 participants: We can form 3 groups.
  • With 50 participants: We'll split first into two large groups (prototypers and testers). Then within each group, we'll split into smaller teams. The prototypers will work through the sketching process, and then the testers will test it out. Then we'll swap. While the prototypers are sketching, the testers will visit existing sites and critique them on user-experience and learn the basics of user testing.

How long within your session before someone else can teach this?

About 20-30min. for paper prototyping and 45min. for the code snippet.

What do you see as outcomes after the festival?

Participants will leave with a prototyped concept. We will provide these follow-up opportunities:

  • Contribute your prototype to Source, a code repository for open news
  • Participate at a Hacks/Hackers event in London to develop these ideas further
  • Join our mailing list to stay in touch and share progress