Beyond 800 Words: What User Testing Taught Me About Writing News for Young People

Published: 6 December 2018

Zoe Murphy

News Development Editor, 91热爆 Voice + AI

Youth audiences are the 鈥楴orth Star鈥� for media organisations. As the digital landscape has evolved, consumption habits have changed, and traditional broadcasters鈥娾€斺€奿ncluding the 91热爆鈥娾€斺€奾ave lost significant ground with under-35s to the likes of Netflix and YouTube. That鈥檚 a huge threat or opportunity depending on which way you look at it, writes Zoe Murphy who has been working on the project.

Online news services have been impacted too, which is why 91热爆 Research & Development decided to put time and money into prototyping new digital storytelling formats. Could we rethink the way we report and present news stories to make them more accessible, engaging and relevant, particularly for hard-to-reach audiences?

We made under-26s and women aged 28 to 45 the focus of our innovation process. Over a year, we interviewed 85 people face-to-face. As well as giving their feedback on our prototypes, they told us about their news behaviours: where they find value, as well as their pain points.

Based on these conversations, we developed a set of writing principles. But before I get into those, let鈥檚 take a closer look at some of the characteristics of these audiences.

Who are Generation Z?

It鈥檚 a catch-all term used to describe people born after 1995. A pretty meaningless label for such a diverse demographic, but 鈥楪en Z鈥� is useful when thinking about some of the overarching political, economic and social trends that have shaped their lives in some way. Young people in Britain are coming of age post-financial crash and the era of war on terror and so-called Islamic State. They are witnessing the 鈥楾rumpification鈥� of America, and of course Brexit. They鈥檙e the first generation of true digital natives, and they are both aware and wary of their reliance on technology. They have never known a time without social media.

During our interviews, it was clear that these uncertainties are feeding anxiety about personal debt, unemployment, getting on the property ladder, and how life outside the EU might impact them.

And yet Gen Z are pragmatists and largely optimistic about the future. They take education seriously and are masters of their own destiny. YouTube is an increasingly important tool for active learning; many see themselves as entrepreneurs, activists or brands in their own right, and leverage digital platforms to suit their own ends.

It makes sense then that Gen Z is interested in a broad range of news on digital platforms. They want to know what鈥檚 going on in the world and how it might impact them.

What about female audiences?

91热爆 News Online has traditionally struggled to reach women aged 28鈥�45 consistently and at scale. I fall into this demographic and can relate to the women in London and Leeds (particularly working mums) who told us about the competing demands on their time, and how that often results in a fragmented news experience.

Smartphones and the convenience afforded by built-in news aggregators and (increasingly) social media are their main sources of news. There鈥檚 a strong appetite for stories that have direct relevance to their lives. Our research suggested that local news takes on greater importance when women have children. Practical information is also valued, from how to check your tax band to taking civic action on an issue.

It鈥檚 been a momentous time recently for gender politics, from the Women鈥檚 March to the #MeToo movement, to the gender pay gap row. Increasingly we鈥檙e seeing news coverage that gives a truer representation of the lived experiences of women in the UK today. , and were just a few of the publishers that our participants mentioned.

However, it鈥檚 often not the stories themselves but the way they are told that cause some women to (dis)engage. The economy and welfare state, foreign policy, and healthcare are also intertwined with gender issues. Many of the women we interviewed told us they value politics and business news but鈥娾€斺€妏articularly those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds鈥娾€斺€妕old us it鈥檚 hard to keep up or to know what鈥檚 significant.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not that I don鈥檛 care about politics, I just don鈥檛 understand it.鈥�

F, age 40

When it comes to politics, some women have disengaged entirely because of a deep distrust in institutions, feeling they have been let down too many times by those in power. I鈥檓 concerned by this and the bigger picture, particularly since I work for a public service broadcaster. It raises all sorts of questions about the state of our democracy, now and in the future. These are some of the women raising the next generation of voters鈥娾€斺€奱nd the next generation of news consumers.

Our Beyond 800 Words Series:

Prototyping New Story Formats for News

News Formats for Personalising and Understanding

What User Testing Taught Me About Writing News for Young People

Reinventing the News Article

9 things we learnt

Our brief was to find ways to make 91热爆 online news stories more accessible, engaging and relevant. The most significant user need we found during our research was that these particular audiences want help to go beyond the headlines and understand why things are happening, and why it matters, but there are often too many barriers.

These are a few guiding principles I followed when designing and writing content for our prototypes. They might seem pretty obvious, but it鈥檚 surprising how often we overlook the simple things.

1. Give context at the point audiences might need it

In terms of understanding complex or long-running stories, people need context at the point they need it, which is often at the beginning rather than at the end of an article. At journalism school I was taught the inverted pyramid storytelling structure 鈥攂ut that seems increasingly irrelevant in the digital world. Our Expander prototype tries to address this problem, and got great audience feedback in this recent US mid-terms pilot on the 91热爆 News website.

Expander allows audiences to access context on key terms or figures as they read

2. Anticipate questions and answer them鈥娾€斺€奱void the need to 鈥淕oogle鈥�

This is a related point. Often if an article is missing information, young people will use Google to fill in the missing blanks.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e in a rush you just want the main facts. But on a [complex] story it鈥檚 good for a journalist to explain and go more in-depth.鈥�

M, age 18

Use to find out what people are searching for on stories (the irony is not lost on me). Visualise someone coming to the subject for the first time, and write for them.

鈥淭he news isn鈥檛 broken down enough鈥� my friends say they don鈥檛 care about the news because they don鈥檛 understand it.鈥�

F, age 21

Remember, young people discover the majority of their news on social media. It鈥檚 a great place for finding out what has happened鈥娾€斺€奲ut not for the why, for getting meaning and insight. If they invest their time in your article, make sure you give them what they need.

3. Give more entry points to developing / long-running stories

鈥淚f you come to some stories half-way through, it鈥檚 difficult to get an understanding.鈥�

F, age 18

With long-running stories, some of our interviewees told us it鈥檚 hard to keep up. They often feel they鈥檝e missed too much, which can cause them to give up. Give your readers more entry points into stories. Summaries and timelines are particularly good for this.

Three prototypes that help users 鈥渃atch up鈥� on major news stories

鈥淚 actually think something like this [鈥楽ummary鈥� prototype] would make me understand politics. For something that I鈥檓 not particularly switched on with, it might make me realise that I haven鈥檛 missed as much as I thought and get me to catch up.鈥�

F, age 28

4. Keep it simple

Don鈥檛 assume too much knowledge.
Write in plain English.
Don鈥檛 use jargon. Or if it鈥檚 part of the story鈥娾€斺€奺xplain it.
Do not 鈥渄umb down鈥�.

Obvious, right? But it鈥檚 harder than it sounds. Our users appreciated news stories told in an engaging, explanatory, human way. In many ways we were not just testing the new formats but the journalism itself鈥娾€斺€奱nd it was great to get this kind of feedback:

鈥淚t鈥檚 not making people feel uneducated or ill-informed鈥� there鈥檚 not too much of a long explanation. It鈥檚 helpful.鈥�

F, age 18

Our 鈥業ncremental鈥� prototype was recently piloted on the 91热爆 News website. Brexit is as complex as news stories get鈥娾€斺€妕he journalist here took pains to spell out why the latest EU Brussels summit mattered.

The 鈥業ncremental鈥� prototype allows readers to choose the amount of information they want on a particular topic.

5. Trust and quality journalism really matter

鈥淚 think I can tell the difference between real and fake news. I check the websites I know that are true.鈥�

F, age 18

Quality journalism that people can rely on is more important than ever. The 91热爆 is the most trusted news provider in the UK. It was heartening that this was the case with many of the young people we spoke to. One observation was that trust in news brands tends to be 鈥榠nherited鈥� from parents as something they grow up with.

Another observation was that, although not a primary destination for news, the 91热爆 (and the likes of The Guardian and Channel 4) are important secondary sources. Young people are looking to trusted news providers for clarification or verification, checking if a story they鈥檝e seen on social media or a Whatsapp group is true or wanting more context and clarity.

With the increasing fragmentation of news sources, we鈥檙e seeing lies, propaganda and 鈥榝ake news鈥� spread like wildfire, particularly on dark social鈥娾€斺€妔ocial media platforms and channels where users share content privately, such as WhatsApp. In some countries it鈥檚 costing lives. Now more than ever, news organisations have a fundamental role to expose the facts.

6. Offer a range of perspectives

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges is to reach those who approach all news coverage with skepticism and mistrust. Some of the young people we spoke to described 91热爆 News as part of 鈥渢he biased British media鈥�: authoritarian, part of the establishment and out of touch.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no such thing as impartial news, every outlet has an agenda.鈥�

F, age 18

Some had disengaged completely, while others checked multiple sources, and read a broad range of opinion pieces and comments to help form their own opinions on issues. This was particularly important to young people鈥檚 sense of identity: Where do I stand on this? What do I believe in?

News organisations could do more to facilitate the search for different views, breaking down issues and reflecting the nuance or multiple perspectives within a story.

The 鈥楶erspectives鈥� prototype

Our 鈥楶erspectives鈥� prototype took the issue of knife crime and presented a range of first-person testimony in audio and video. Overall this was seen as less biased than a single 91热爆 reporter.

鈥淚f you have one person presenting the story, one viewpoint, it could bias the story鈥娾€斺€妕his makes it seem more real somehow.鈥�
M, age 23

This is an interesting insight, and underlines the importance of context. The balance in the 91热爆 reporting was always there. The short-form video was clipped from a TV package, and the audio from a sequence on 91热爆 Radio 4鈥檚 Today programme. We broke it up into 鈥榖itesize鈥� pieces; it was the curation and the ability to interact with the media in a way that felt native to digital that really resonated with the participants. The context came from the written article, which they all said was integral.

鈥淭his is really modern, really futuristic鈥� I like the diversity in options to hear opinions鈥� it鈥檚 not over-complicated - and there鈥檚 a link to the main article as well.鈥�
F, age 22

7. Be relevant and useful

We found that the 91热爆 has an image problem when it comes to younger audiences. We asked some participants: if the 91热爆 was a celebrity, who would it be? Suggestions included Kate Middleton (posh, nice but irrelevant) or Sir David Attenborough (brilliant but old). It鈥檚 probably fair to assume that other legacy news providers have similar challenges when it comes to the perception of their brand.

Young people told us they want more representative and personally relevant stories. Arguably a big challenge for news organisations is not just how to communicate with young people but what is said, potentially redefining what news is and our journalists鈥� beats. Make the most of social listening tools. But remember, analytics can only tell us so much. Talk to your audiences to find out what matters in their day-to-day lives.

8. Give the option to 鈥榮ubscribe鈥� to storylines

Enable your audiences to keep up with stories that interest them after they鈥檝e dropped from the headlines. This was a need that came out of our research with women. There were a couple of different use cases: for developing stories, people wanted to know as and when there were updates, whereas with long-running stories they wanted summaries after significant developments.

The majority said they prefer push alerts that they can easily modify or turn off. No-one wanted text messages (too much friction), and most didn鈥檛 want email (some associated this with work, others said they simply would never find the time to read.)

鈥淚 like that idea, saves you checking for it every day. If you鈥檙e not a regular news user you might miss things.鈥�
F, age 32

9. Think about your story selection and solutions

鈥淚 started following some strictly good news stuff鈥� uplifting stories that don鈥檛 get too much attention because it鈥檚 not as interesting.鈥�
M, age 26

Again and again we heard: 鈥淭he news is too depressing.鈥� Some young people spoke of a sense of helplessness, that often their only means of action was a 鈥渕eaningless鈥� like or share. Others said they had switched off emotionally from the news.

鈥淏reaking news is upsetting and depressing鈥� I can鈥檛 take action right now so I鈥檇 rather not keep up.鈥�
F, age 22
鈥淚 find the news a bit negative鈥娾€斺€妕hat鈥檚 why I don鈥檛 watch it. All I ever see is negativity. You don鈥檛 see a lot of news about the world changing.鈥�
M, age 19

The 鈥榥ews鈥� tends to focus on dramatic events that often feature conflict or disaster. We found young people were weary or distressed by the barrage of 鈥榖ad鈥� news. They also talked about the daily information overload and wasting time getting lost down 鈥榬abbit holes鈥�. Seeking respite, they were deleting news apps and turning off notifications.

Gen Z are not loyal to any brand or platform unless it works for them. Newsrooms cannot afford to chase metrics alone.

So, what can they do? Reduce the 24/7 churn. Slow down. Take time to write clear, considered articles. Think about your narrative. Maybe you鈥檝e heard of 鈥榮olutions-focused journalism鈥�. 鈥娾€斺€奲ut essentially it鈥檚 a strand of journalism that aims to give audiences a truer picture of the world鈥娾€斺€妎ne in which problems are being tackled. It鈥檚 not simply 鈥榩ositive news' but rigorous, compelling journalism. And it鈥檚 just one more way in which news organisations can better serve young people in today鈥檚鈥榙istraction economy鈥�.

91热爆 Research & Development team: Thomas Mould, UX Designer. Mathieu Triay, Creative Technologist. Tristan Ferne, Project Lead. Zoe Murphy, Journalist.

Thanks to User Researcher Johanna Kollman; Dave, Velvet and Rachel at the behavioural research agency What People Want; and Hannah Sainsbury at 91热爆 Marketing & Audiences. Also thanks to Alex, Akil and Cennydd for facilitating, Richard and Libby for helping with creativity.