Some good story form examples

[Tim Frank]

Features is already doing a lot of short-form content, but we sometimes fall short of giving the reader the most satisfying experience. Here is a remake of a Home & Garden inside page that makes much better use of the story forms we already produce.

The original is on the left and in this case, the page was redesigned as two half pages.



The stories on the right give each item a clear entry point and gives enough space to the content to make if accessible and important. Although the pieces are more airy, they don't necessarily use more space in combination.

Here is a closer look at the sweeper story:



Here is a closer look at the Q&A:



Research shows that this kind of storytelling greatly improves reader comprehension. How can we make better use of this technique throughout the paper?

[Taimy Alvarez]

The color blocking of the calendar makes it pop out to me more.

[Paul Wallen]

Remember also that prototypes are essentially sketches, especially at this stage. They're usually not exactly precise but can be finessed as we go forward.

[Paul Wallen]

Charlyne, I'm not sure I understand about the calendar... are we missing calendar content in these prototypes that we have now? I thought, and it looks like, all the calendar items from the original are included in the prototypes?
Angie's done a great job illustrating in these prototypes what Gretchen alludes to... even when we have content that is not a continuous narrative, we often simply treat it as one continuous piece of text. This unfortunately doesn't take full advantage of the appeal of segmented text for scanners and time starved readers. We've been talking a lot about this in the design group and have tried to make some small adjustments. But it's a challenge trying to change habits and workflow on the fly because we're so buried in production and stretched so thin. The great thing about this process is that we'll be able to make some improvements like this and in setting up templates, make executing this almost as easy as executing our current versions.

[Charlyne Schaub]

I really like the look of the pages. We have been trying for some time in Home & Garden to use alternative story forms. And art has always been important to us. This works well.
My one concern -- not to sound like a Johnny one note -- is the calendar. Readers love to use these as event planners and we get a lot of positive feedback from readers. I do think we can work on the content end to write it tighter, but we need to be able to include a good range of items. Most of our older readers tell us they don't have computers,

[Gretchen Day-Bryant]

This prototyping process has been very surprising. We've taken actual content that has already appeared in the paper -- without cutting or altering in any way -- and given it a whole new feel. The text is not overwhelmed by the visuals.

We are already beginning to adapt this in the real world (take a look at Lifestyle, June 2, particularly the fashion jump and the Q/A on the bottom of the cover). We did not alter the reporters' stories at all -- and the design feels fresh and not so dense.