A personalised newsplatform for de Volkskrant

Discovering the possibilities of the collaboration between journalists and algorithms at de Volkskrant and DPG Media

Master thesis (2022)

Authors

A.D. Minnema Industrial Design Engineering

Contributors

J.I. van Kuijk Applied Ergonomics and Design - IDE (supervisor 1)
E.A. van den Hende Responsible Marketing and Consumer Behavior (supervisor 1)
Faculty
Industrial Design Engineering
Copyright: © 2022 Abe Minnema
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Published Date

08-04-2022

Language

English

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Faculty

Industrial Design Engineering

Abstract

This master thesis for Strategic Product Design at the TU Delft presents a design for a personalised Volkskrant-app. The goal of this project was to explore the different possibilities of personalisation and see how it could help de Volkskrant fulfil its mission to enrich their reader’s life through news.
Why?
During my whole project I have involved readers, journalists and the product developers at DPG Media. Within the theory analysis, interviews and conversations I had with these stakeholders I have identified four reasons for implementing personalisation in the digital news distribution product of the Volkskrant:

Facilitating the fulfilment of the diverse reader needs of the subscribers.
The current home feed of the app and website of de Volkskrant mainly focus on the update-me need.

Developing the platform of de Volkskrant into a product that takes full advantage of the possibilities of digital news distribution.
The current digital news distribution product offer of de Volkskrant is still seen as a digital translation of the physical newspaper. It is time to look at what digital developments can offer something different.

Offering an extra service for the users of the platform of de Volkskrant
The rise of competitive platforms for news put pressure on the business model of de Volkskrant. Personalisation could offer an extra service to bind readers to the app of de Volkskrant.

Limiting the news overload that readers experience in current day and age.
De Volkskrant should help subscribers to find the articles they look for and offer a clear overview.
How?
To create an algorithm that would facilitate more needs of the readers, I came up with co-curation of the news. The digital news will now be curated by both journalists and an algorithm, both having a different responsibility:

Journalists: Delivering on the promise of creating the most relevant news events and productions that make de Volkskrant stand out.

Algorithms: Bringing the niche articles to the right readers by fulfilling their personal habits, deepening their knowledge in specific topics and surprising them with suggestions out of their filter bubble.
What?
The final design proposes two newly designed interfaces for the app of de Volkskrant. Focusing on two scenarios:

Getting the right article to the right reader: the home feed
The newly designed home feed is co-curated. A horizontal scroll bar was added to the home feed saying ‘de belangrijkste verhalen voor jou’ - the most important stories for you.

This addition is based on three key principles for personalisation: transparency, autonomy and diversity. The horizontal scroll bar is distinctive because of its look, title and scrolling direction, allowing the users to dive into it or leave it out in their session.