Interview with [Elwira Majewska](https://www.linkedin.com/in/elwira-majewska-715878146/) and Grzegorz Wiktorski, UX Designers at Autentika

**"What people say what people do and what people say they do are entirely different things," said world-renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead, long before the concept of user experience was introduced to a broader audience in the 1990s. Her words are surprisingly actual regarding user research – and the reason why UX teams use ethnographic research to gain insights into user experiences. Learn how we go about it at Autentika.**


At Autentika, we help [media transform and grow](https://autentika.com/projects/wp) by improving the UX and efficiency of their editorial software. UX research – including ethnographic research – is a crucial part of our work process, as it allows us to understand how users interact with their back-office systems.

We asked Autentika's UX design experts – Elwira Majewska and Grzegorz Wiktorski – how they conduct ethnographic research in a newsroom and what insights they gained during Autentika's cooperation with several top media companies. Here’s what they said.

_Listen to the audio version of this article or read the transcript that follows below the player_

**Joanna Kocik: Let’s start with some basics. Could you tell us what ethnographic research is and how it differs from other research methods in UX design?**

**Elwira Majewska:** **Ethnographic research** is a method that focuses on observing the behaviour of users in their natural environment – such as the workplace or community. In our case, it’s the newsroom. We observe and document people's activities and interactions rather than run surveys and interviews (which we do in other stages of the UX research).

Ethnographic research can be based on pure observation or combined with contextual interviewing. In our case, we sit behind journalists, observe them doing their job, and ask questions in crucial moments.

**Grzegorz Wiktorski:** One of the key differences between ethnographic research and other qualitative research methods is the amount of required time and effort. Ethnographic research involves **longer and more immersive observation** and data collection periods, often spanning days or even weeks. This allows researchers to gain a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of users' behaviour and context. Still, it also requires a more significant investment of time and resources than other research methods.

Ethnography costs time – however, the big positive outcome is a massive amount of insights and data that neither IDI (in-depth interviews) nor any other method can provide. 




Ethnographic research helps us understand users' needs and problems with their software – it perfectly complements other practices, especially quantitative methods.


**We’ll get back to quantitative vs qualitative methods later – now, let’s talk about the benefits of ethnography. Margaret Mead, the world-renowned anthropologist, famously said: "What people say, what people do, and what people say they do are entirely different things”. Is that true regarding ethnographic research? Is it a process that can help teams better understand their users?**

**Grzegorz:** This is one of the fundamental principles in UX design – **don't listen to users; observe them.** Of course, we shouldn't be so strict with this rule. Still, validating the participants' statements by their actions is essential because they aren't always aware of their behaviour or might give biased answers during the interview.

Don't get me wrong – I don't mean that users are lying or have bad intentions, but it's common to forget something or ignore little things that could be a real deal.

Finally, ethnographic research allows us to gain a deeper contextual understanding of users. By observing them directly, we can uncover the nuances of their behaviour, needs, and pain points that we may not be able to capture with other research methods. By immersing ourselves in the user's environment, we can see the big picture and understand the broader context in which they operate.

**Elwira:** One example is the pop-up window that appears every time you paste the text. Under normal circumstances, this would not be a problem. However, when it appears dozens of times a day, it is annoying and delays your work.

Ethnography also makes us discover unmet needs. It means that people see something as “normal” when it’s far from ordinary. A good example is the software's lack of 'help'. During one of our research sessions, it became clear that users do not know what certain functions are used for and have no way to find out. And they accepted this state though it was far from being a model situation.


The final argument for conducting ethnographic research is that the better we know the real work of journalists, the more precise conclusions we can draw from it. And consequently, develop a future product optimally tailored to their needs.


**Can you describe some key insights from your ethnographic research in newsrooms and how you apply them in your design work?**

**Grzegorz:** In some of the interviews, journalists indicated that they follow strict SEO rules considering the headlines and titles the SEO team gives them via the daily bulletin. During the ethnographic research, we found none of the participants looked at the document. The reason was that most of them thought that every SEO bulletin contained the same information, so it was not worth opening and rereading it.

In this case, it would be better to incorporate the bulletin’s guidelines into a simple, streamlined text-check process during writing.

**Elwira:** We observed an interesting moment when a newly hired editor finished her shift. She was supposed to hand over her duties to the next editor, but she only knew his first name. There were several people in this newsroom with the same name, and she did not know which person was the right one. In this case, it would have been helpful if the software had included a list of the people working in the newsroom that day, their schedules and their tasks.

Another surprising observation was how much time editorial teams spend communicating and sharing messages on different channels. Much of this work could be automated by adding functionality to the software and integrating the CMS with the communicators. This could speed up their work.



**What were some of the challenges you faced during this process?**

**Grzegorz:** The most common problem is access to research participants. Our research involves observing and interacting with people in their workplaces. They are busy – but they also might have some privacy concerns. 

Second, it's difficult to maintain the user's attention and full focus during research – it's not easy to stay 100% engaged for several hours, and we're very aware of that. Therefore, we usually mix the two approaches: shadowing and contextual interviewing, in one session. This gives us a perfect pace and balance.

Another approach is the "think-aloud protocol." At the beginning of each session, we encourage participants to speak out about whatever they're thinking or processing. However, this can be uncomfortable or unnatural behaviour for participants, and they may forget about it despite reminders.

To counteract this, we often ask contextual questions during the session, such as 'What happened?' or 'Can you tell me more about this?' This helps remind participants of the think-aloud protocol and allows deeper insights into their experiences and thought processes.

**Elwira:** It's no secret that journalists see us doing research. Hence the big challenge is to minimise the influence of the observer (that is, of us) on the process. We try to be quiet during the observation and interrupt the participant only at important moments. 


**How do people usually react to your presence? Do they feel comfortable sharing their experiences and perspectives?**

**Elwira:** We know that our presence in a newsroom can be somewhat stressful, but we approach people with an open mind and a positive attitude. We are ordinary, friendly people who smile and talk to them. 





Also, we ensure people understand that we are not there to judge anyone but to understand how they work. Our common goal is to help improve or develop new software.


I must also add that ethnography is not "entry-level" research either. It's not like we come in off the street and start working in the newsroom. We are first introduced to the team, and our presence is anticipated.  

**Grzegorz:** During the observation sessions, we found that people can react differently depending on the context and their comfort level with being observed.
For example, in a newsroom, some participants may feel insecure or stressed when observed, which can affect their behaviour, reactions and work efficiency. We always try to create a comfortable environment and make sure we are the good guys.
Despite our best efforts, some participants may be reluctant to share their experiences and perspectives. In these situations, we try to adjust our approach by asking open-ended questions and using active listening techniques to encourage participants to share more.

We also try to be flexible and responsive to participants' needs, whether that means taking breaks, adjusting the timing or duration of the session, or changing our methods to meet their needs better.

**Let’s return to the differences between qualitative and quantitative research. How do you combine the qualitative insights gained from your ethnographic research with other data types?**

**Grzegorz:** Let's be honest – first the numbers, then the questions. Quantitative data comes first because it allows us to identify general findings, behaviours, and patterns that we can further explore through ethnographic research.

Quantitative data, for example, can help us identify areas of drastic productivity loss within the software that we can target in our ethnographic research.

When we then combine the qualitative findings from the ethnographic research with the quantitative data, we get a complete understanding of user behaviour and issues. We can make design decisions based on solid evidence. 


**Do you usually work in a team of two? Why?**

**Elwira:** We do not work alone. We see different things and can exchange observations. After each session, we compare the results of the observations. Most of the time, we say, "Wow, I did not see that, great".

We also brainstorm after research to draw conclusions. On our own, it would be difficult to do.

Plus, we like to work together!

**Maybe it’s a tricky question, but can you do ethnographic research in a remote or hybrid work environment?**

**Grzegorz:** Doing research remotely or in a hybrid work environment is certainly possible. There are various methods, such as netnography, which uses digital methods to study online communities and social networks, or remote user sessions, similar to traditional user testing conducted using video conferencing software or other remote tools.

It should be noted, however, that these approaches cannot fully replicate the experience of traditional ethnographic research, which requires deep immersion in the natural context of participants, which can be challenging to achieve remotely. We may be unable to observe nonverbal cues or miss critical social factors that can influence participant behaviour.

**Elwira:** There are no standard practices for remote ethnography in UX. We try to be up to date-with these methods. However, we believe they cannot replace offline ethnography and contact with users at this stage.

**And maybe this is good, as it makes us all meet in person and not remotely on Zoom or Google Meets! Thank you so much for your time and those exhaustive answers.**

**If you – as a media professional – have any additional questions or want to chat about digital transformation in your newsroom – reach out!**

Newsroom (2).png

Expert’s voice: The power of UX ethnographic research in a newsroom 

Written by [Joanna Kocik](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannakocik/), ex-media professional and content strategist 

**When it comes to the issue of "speed vs accuracy" in the journalistic world, one can debate it for hours. But the honest answer to this dilemma has nothing to do with compromise. Your media should be as accurate and as fast as possible. And it just so happens that there’s a lot you can do with both matters, improving efficiency and cutting time to publication by up to 70%. Here's how.**

I remember that day very well. It was early morning in Central Europe on 17 April 2018. I was in the newsroom and had the shift of the homepage editor. It was me who decided what to put on the front page and when.

There wasn't much going on. The usual stuff. And suddenly my colleague said, "Barbara Bush is dead".

It was already known that her health had deteriorated, and she had decided to discontinue further treatment. A day earlier, CNN had published that her husband, former President George H. W. Bush, was with her. So when I saw a tweet that said, "Barbara Bush dies peacefully in her Houston home," I didn't wait long. We immediately put the breaking news on the front page.

And then my colleague, who had broken the news to me, anxiously spoke up. "Wait," she said, "there's something strange about this tweet".

Yes, you guessed right. The tweet came from a fake account that resembled CNN's profile. And it wasn't true. We were posting fake news.

Barbara Bush died later that day. This time we waited for the official statement before publishing the information. But the milk was spilt. For two, maybe three minutes, we had a fake on our home page. And a lot of people saw it. Like, really, a lot.

Later, I wondered why we were in such a hurry. The reason was obvious: we simply didn't want to be late. We tried to avoid another question from our superiors: "Why did it take so long to publish this story?". We – humans – didn't recognise a fake Twitter account and fell into our trap: speed versus accuracy.



Need for speed – a curse of every newsroom

I can recall countless situations where we pushed for speed and posted incomplete news with a bad title, an even worse picture, and no background. The pressure for speed exists in all digital media – and sometimes it comes at the expense of quality or even – as I proved above – being truthful.



This may sound cruel, but VIP deaths are the easiest to handle in this context. Most newsrooms have a secure database of obituaries that is immediately available when a VIP passes away. Then a media worker simply copies the article, adds details and has an article ready within minutes.

But it doesn't work that way for other types of breaking news. A journalist has one minute to write an article, add a title, a picture, tags and linked topics. Then he or she clicks "Save" – and that starts the ride.

I probably can't even count how many times the system has been our biggest enemy.

"Your article cannot be saved; please add a publication date".

_Are you serious? You want me to add a publish date manually? That's an extra 10 seconds._

"The image isn't framed properly". 

_Who cares? I need this article immediately, I will frame the picture later._

"The image isn't framed properly". 

_OMG, all right, let's frame it (that's another 30 seconds)._

"You have exceeded the recommended title length". 

_Couldn't you just tell me that when I wrote the title? I've to do it now. 20 seconds._

While I’m struggling with the tool, the editor keeps asking. “Where’s the damn article?”. I want to let them know it’s ready. But to do this, I must paste a link to our communicator.

Ten more seconds.

You'll have to forgive me for this longish introduction. The reason is that I've been frustrated for a long time with the speed pressure in the newsroom, with faulty editorial software, and the lack of fact-checking tools. How was I supposed to do my job well if every time something was urgent, technical obstacles popped up? I know it sounds like Murphy's Law, but it's true in every newsroom: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

It's hard to justify publishing fake news – but hands up, who's never been baited. And hands up, anyone who has never said, "We were behind the competition because the system didn't work right."

As a high-level media professional, you don't want to choose between speed and accuracy. You want your media to publish verified, fact-checked stories ASAP. You don't want your staff to have to deal with annoying features in the CMS that slow down the publishing process. You don't want stories like the one with Barbara Bush. You want to minimise human error and system failure.

The good news is that this is possible – and now I will tell you how.


Murphy’s Law of newsroom

Journalists and media workers struggle with the fact that editorial tools are simply not comfortable to use. They are unintuitive - something is in the upper left corner instead of the usual bottom right. The text window is often too small, and most users prefer to write their content in Google Docs or Word. This is also because they fear the editor will not save the text and all the work will go to waste. Everyone has experienced this – believe me.

So, to write and publish a text, you often need several tools: one for writing, one for copyediting, and another for publishing the piece on the main page. And probably another one to monitor the results. 




What happens when the system blocks your potential?

One central tool to write, publish and manage content would mean less time spent switching between windows – and less risk of accidentally deleting content. 


Moreover, content editor tools have too many features to fill in manually. Why not introduce an editor with predefined presets where everything which can be automated is automated? Less time devoted to deciding what to write and completing tabs means more focus and more time for actual writing. 

Let’s go further down this road: you know that speed matters. Why, then you still maintain a system that doesn’t support that goal? In many newsrooms, excellent outcomes are delivered primarily because of the heroic engagement of people – not because of the tools they have. Automating repetitive tasks will give people more time to write and edit. They will produce more content, and you can catch up with the competition. Add innovative AI tools, and you can compete with all the big players on the market. 

Imagine: you could introduce a “fast track” feature in the editorial software (like we did in our project for Wirtualna Polska), which would allow for a bare minimum to get breaking news published. You could improve the process of adding photos and other content elements – and avoid a work process where people spend more time filling metadata points than actually writing content. 

Yes, we’ve seen many such cases. Yes, they probably exist in your newsroom, too. 


Okay, we agree that better editorial software speeds up content creation. Another improvement it brings is speeding up communication. People in newsrooms typically use a communication tool – Slack, Microsoft Teams or others – and spend a lot of time sharing information, especially in a hybrid or remote work environment.

Journalists who have just written an article post and sent it for review have no idea what will happen to their content unless the editor messages them. They don't know when a piece will be accepted for publication or published. If there is a typo or a minor mistake, they usually get a written request to correct it, then do it and write back that they did it... Then, the editor asks them to create a different title version. Again, they write it; they send a message. They wait for the answer. The editor manually copies the new title of the article. 

Precious seconds go by. The clock is ticking.

It doesn’t have to look this way. Your CMS could support additional features like publish status (visible to all stakeholders: journalists, desk editors, and proofreaders) to reduce the time to publish and minimise the time people spend exchanging messages.

Some newsrooms are already benefiting from such solutions. To give you some examples, [let us show you the improvements we introduced](https://autentika.com/blog/13-numbers-that-show-measurable-results-behind-the-improved-publishing-workflow) in the editorial workflow of several media organisations. 

We created systems that:

- eliminate the need to enter unnecessary information manually 
- recommend article settings by analysing the author's history and statistics
- suggest options based on current trends in the newsroom 
- add tools that automatically suggest metadata based on live analysis of the content
- allow photos to be added faster and more intuitively
- have a "fast track" feature that allows for quick publishing of breaking news
- insert additional content elements such as videos, quotes, and embeds faster
include AI features that recommend images, videos, entire new paragraphs, links, 

The results?

- Time to publish of urgent article reduced by over 70%. 

- The overall efficiency in the entire organisation increased by 10% (journalists can write 10% more articles daily).

- Icing on the cake: over 80% of users are satisfied with the new editor features.

Do you want similar results in your newsroom? [Let's talk --->](https://autentika.com/contact)

Okay, but what about fake news? Can a system function prevent situations like the one with Barbara Bush?

To answer this question, we need to move into the realm of AI, social media, and fact-checking. Let's break down this topic in a little more detail.

First, on AI. With the proliferation of language models, the race between fact-checkers and those who check them is unequal. We already know that artificial intelligence can produce natural-sounding text at the push of a button, essentially automating the production of misinformation. This asymmetry urges media organisations to develop their own AI-powered tools that help detect fake news. 

Independent researchers and companies have been developing software tools to help journalists and fact-checkers identify and combat fake news for years. According to experts, now this help can come at three levels:

- detecting deep fakes and manipulated content
- checking whether the content itself makes false claims 
- responding to fake news

In the past, the rule in most media was that a person's death must be confirmed by two independent sources. Today, in the race against time, that rule is often compromised or sometimes impossible to fulfil. I can recall the confusion we experienced at least a couple of times with the deaths of figures like Osama bin Laden or Kim Jong-il. You can't just call someone in the North Korean government and ask, "Is this true?" You either have to wait for official confirmation or take the risk and release the news after the first tweets have appeared.

But there may be another way. In the case of Barbara Bush, we'd need an algorithmic fact-checking tool integrated into the content management system that verifies the accuracy of the message using comparative data from posts and articles on social media. It could detect that the information hasn't yet been shared on other online platforms or by official channels and assess the source's credibility. 

It's common for misinformation on different topics to come from the same root – we saw this with the large-scale misinformation on Covid-19, followed by the U.S. elections in 2020 and the war in Ukraine. In this case, back-office AI tools could identify which fake news stories have the same origin and allow journalists to watch out for them.

AI tools could also help assess the credibility of user-generated content (UGC). When something happens – a shooting, a fire, an accident – it's usually someone with a phone who is the first reporter on the scene. Judging whether the photos or videos someone sends are true is challenging. With the help of AI, it would be easier to check the metadata of the content and determine whether it hasn't been manipulated.

I can recall a situation where this feature would have been handy. It was the death of Osama bin Laden. Shortly after the news broke, an alleged picture of bin Laden began circulating on social media. It was even republished by some reputable photo agencies. It wasn't until about an hour later that it turned out to be a photo montage when someone who knew about photo editing discovered the image. But Osama died in 2011 – at that time, we couldn't even imagine what would be possible in the future.


Editorial software that supports fact-checking

So, having the context of fact-checking, let's return to the question of speed. Can a digital medium be faster than Twitter (or any other social medium) when witnesses can live stream current events? Can your medium be faster than Twitter?

The first answer is no, of course not. But as a reputable medium, you’re not competing with Twitter regarding speed. And – what’s more important – you have a huge advantage over it. 

The first moments when a story leaps into Twitter are often very chaotic: it's usually a stream of shared consciousness with no contextualizing information, full of typos and misspellings. It's like a single firehose containing every tweet every user sends worldwide.

Journalistic news content provides much more context and explanation of actual events. That's because journalists in newsrooms have something Twitter users never will: years of experience linking distant facts and a database of contacts with people who can explain any topic in detail, making complex information digestive for an average user.

[In this analysis for Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2019/02/26/is-twitter-really-faster-than-the-news/?sh=18d5309a1cf7), Kalev Leetaru points out that Twitter's speed on breaking news comes mainly from retweeting, not from users sharing their new perspectives and thoughts on events. And when it comes to scripted events like political conventions, Twitter doesn't outperform the news. It acts more as an on/off switch that registers an event, but the media offer a rich, advanced, and fact-checked narrative about it.


Can you be faster than Twitter? 

It's hard to say if I could have avoided a Barbara Bush mishap. An AI fact-checking feature built into CMS probably would have helped, but here we were dealing with a human error.

I know that well-designed, intuitive CMS and editorial tools that form a system are irreplaceable regarding speed and accuracy. Journalists who don't have to spend time on redundant tasks and manual work can avoid mistakes caused by a lack of focus. In this case, a combined system where man and machine work together like a cyborg can bring the results you strive for. It makes your medium fast and accurate and increases the content you produce. 

Let's talk – whether you're considering speeding up the publishing process, redesigning your back-office system or adding functional AI features to make journalists' jobs easier. We have plenty of other stories and numbers to prove that you can aim higher in your digital transformation. 



Conclusion?

twitter.png

Can digital media be faster than Twitter? How to cut time to publish by 70%

**We often use big visions and words when discussing digital transformation in a newsroom. But not this time. This time, we get down to raw numbers and the measurable impact of initiatives we have developed for a media holding with 23 million monthly users.**

Let’s start with the context. For 25 years, Wirtualna Polska – one of the largest media groups in Central Europe – has been developing its back-office systems and managing dozens of apps obtained through acquisitions. This led to a universe of systems and tools with different looks and functionality. Journalists, editors and media workers had to switch between various internal apps to get their job done. It took them a lot of time – and clicks – to publish an article and push it to the main page.

Does that sound familiar? Well, it's not uncommon for a media company to maintain 20 or 30 systems that serve different purposes. This practice often leads to quite a bit of chaos. Work processes are decentralised and vary from team to team; employees use external software and lose valuable time on manual tasks; newcomers struggle to learn which tool is used for what. We all know this costs time, money and the nerves of those who fight with the software instead of doing what they do best. 

We partnered with Wirtualna Polska to clean up their system. We have developed a portfolio of inspiring projects for over four years of cooperation. All of them led to creation of a coherent back-office software ecosystem that supports existing and new tools' growth. We have spent thousands of hours working on integrational processes that changed effectiveness (gains in output, quality, and outcomes) and efficiency (savings in time, effort, and money). You can read more about the entire process [here ](https://autentika.com/projects/wp?utm_source=Blog&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=cswp&utm_id=Blog)– but now, we’ll focus on the results it brought.


The objectives of the entire system redesign were to improve five crucial areas:


**Speed**

The goal was to publish news faster and help people work quickly without compromising the quality of their work. 

**Usability**

We wanted to reduce costs by removing tools that didn’t bring much or any value to the publication process but were still sustained by the organisation. 


**Intuitiveness**

It was crucial to introduce an intuitive design and limit the number of distractors to help journalists and editors focus on the content. 


**Consistency**

The goal was to replace several independent apps with one consistent process to streamline the workflow and make employees’ work easier. 


**Scalability**

We wanted to create a coherent design system which enabled designing new app modules faster.


Goals of the system redesign

Measurable results of implemented changes

"When it comes to credibility, speed kills," wrote The Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan in one of her opinion pieces. Although a common saying is that "there is almost no story that isn't improved by holding it back for a day," this scenario isn't possible with breaking news that must appear immediately on the main page. For this reason, **there should be no technical obstacles** when something goes online.

Many factors can slow down the publication process. For example, the CMS page or its components load slowly, or a journalist has to use several different tools to publish news. They also need to manually fill in many sections or spend a lot of time looking for the proper illustration for the news and then framing it. 

And then – when the post is ready to go – the system crashes, an error occurs, and all the work is lost. This happens in almost all the media, and you know what it means: You’re the last to break the news. You lag behind the competition. And you know that readers or viewers may turn to them next time and stay with them forever.

The audit of the publishing workflow conducted at Wirtualna Polska allowed us to identify critical factors necessary for speeding up the publication process and to propose appropriate solutions when building the new editorial system. 

First, we implemented a "fast track" function. This feature allows journalists to prepare an article with a predefined breaking news photo, categories and tags. After adding a headline and a lead, the article is ready to go. Second, we developed improvements that allow journalists to add photos and additional content elements faster and more intuitively. 


The results: 


1. The **average time to urgent news publication** decreased by more than **70%**.

2. The **average time to publication of breaking news** decreased to **120 seconds**.

3.  In extreme cases, it took **60 seconds** to publish breaking news (measured from when the "fast track" template is clicked to when the article appears on the site).

4. The overall time to publication in the organisation decreased by **10%**.

5. The **efficiency of daily content production increased by 10%**.


1) Time to publish reduced by over 70%


**What was equally essential for us:**

6.  **79%** of users working with the new system positively rated the speed of inserting photos into an article.

7. **90%** of users positively rated the speed of inserting additional content elements.

8.  **83%** of users positively evaluated the time needed to complete their tasks in the new editor. 




[Talk to us if you want to improve your time to publication —> 
](https://autentika.com/contact?utm_source=Blog&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=cont&utm_id=Blog)

There are many definitions for an "intuitive design" – but for the sake of this article, we’ll adopt the simplest one – that it as a design that is easy to use. It means that it works the way users expect it to and that they can subconsciously apply their knowledge to interact effectively with the tool. It's a design that doesn't require hours of training and explanation because it ties into people's previous experiences.

To achieve intuitive design, it's critical to consider the user's background, work culture, and habits. [As we've learned in our work with newsrooms](https://autentika.com/blog/nine-lessons-learned-from-working-with-newsrooms), innovation isn't always the best solution because what's intuitive to one group may not be understood by others. In the case of Wirtualna Polska, we are proud to say that we managed to improve the intuitiveness of the editorial system. 

The results are as follows:

9. 81% of users stated that the editor is intuitive on first contact.
10. 79% of users positively evaluated the intuitiveness of adding photos to an article.
11. 80% of users positively rated the intuitiveness of adding additional content elements to the article.


2) Improved intuitiveness of the new system


**The importance of intuitiveness**

Why is intuitiveness so vital? It's not just about making users' work easier and faster. It's about equipping your staff with reliable and modern tools, which can impact employee satisfaction. Journalists dealing with outdated, non-intuitive software may feel their work isn't being taken seriously. In some cases, a lack of modern tools combined with the pressure to produce better results can lead to increased stress, a lack of motivation to work, and higher turnover.

It's also worth noticing that the intuitiveness of the work tools helps with employee onboarding and allows newcomers to find their way around more quickly. Someone starting in your newsroom shouldn’t have to spend weeks learning new systems and constantly ask colleagues how to insert an image into an article. The more intuitive the interface, the easier it's to learn and use, which can mean significant time and cost optimisation.


One of the most important achievements of our work for Wirtualna Polska is the creation of a **design system** – a library of reusable components that combines design, code and the knowledge of how to use them. This makes it possible to build new products based on a single source of code, reducing the time and effort required to create, develop and test a new product. You can build thousands of different applications on a single design system.

A design system also limits chaos and lawlessness in the organisation. It provides consistency across the company and helps avoid teams working according to different workflows and using various (often external) tools.

We'll be frank with you: creating a design system is not a piece of cake. It takes an experienced team with particular skills and competencies, the right tools and technologies, and of course, time – but it's worth it.

Moving to a unified structure reduces the staff needed to maintain legacy systems, lowers the cost of creating new products and enhancing existing ones, and provides a consistent experience for system users.

Introducing a design system at Wirtualna Polska has led to the following results:

12.  **90%** of the editor components are covered by the design system.
13.  Designing one of the applications took only **42 hours**, and new modules can be created four times faster than before.

3) Reduced effort required to create new products thanks to a  design system 


[Learn more about design systems in media organisations —---> 
](https://autentika.com/blog/why-should-you-invest-in-a-design-system-when-planning-digital-transformation)

The results described above are just one example of what is possible when designing a digital transformation in an organisation. It all depends on the KPIs you have, the challenges you want to solve, and the results you want to achieve. A system redesign can look very different depending on your needs and transformation stage. 

We wanted to share these insights to show that change leads to measurable results. Plus, it's something people do appreciate. No journalist can work with pen and paper anymore. To be efficient and deliver news quickly, they need the right technology – and your job is to equip them with it.

We can help you do that. We'll tell you honestly what makes sense and what does not, and clear the way so you can achieve your business goals. 

Let’s talk about what we can build together. 


Conclusion

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13 numbers that show measurable results behind the improved publishing workflow 

Written by: [Marcin Sasin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcin-sasin-54208b95/), UI Designer at Autentika 


**So you know you need a design system but you're not sure you have the internal capacity and competencies to develop it? Here's a checklist for your next meeting with the product and design teams with key questions to ask and red flags to watch out for.**

The time has come. You're tired of wasting time and energy designing and developing new products. You're fed up with the weak UX, which everyone hates – the journalists in the newsroom (back-office system) and the readers at the front. It drives you mad that each of your systems looks and works differently. And that it costs _gazillions_.

You decided: The organisation needs **a design system** (or even two systems). _You know_ it needs it, and the benefits are obvious to you. It won’t be a walk in the park, but you're ready to tackle this revolution (and even have the budget for it). But how do you ensure your product and design teams have the right skills and competencies to do it? Will they know where to start? Do they have experience building design systems? Do they have the right people on their teams?

At Autentika, [we have experience in working with media companies on their design systems](https://autentika.com/projects/wp) and know the ins and outs of the industry. We’re perfectly aware that content creation and news publishing processes set very high requirements for a design system. We also know that a media organisation often needs **two independent design systems** – and we’ll risk a statement that internal teams are not always equal to the task. 

In this article, we list the **key questions** you should ask at your next meeting to assess whether people in your company have the knowledge and capacity to build a design system. Beware – some answers you might hear are **red flags**. If you hear them, you should think of turning to external experts with proven experience – or you risk a failure of an entire project. 

Basics


The first question you should ask is whether the people in your organisation **understand what a design system is** and whether they accept a **uniform, company-wide definition.**

A design system can be defined in many ways – and it's not enough to say that it's "the company's bible for digital product design and development". Sometimes people confuse a design system with a **style guide**, which is just one of many elements of a DS, or with a **UI kit**, a mere set of interface elements that represent their interactions in relation to a particular product. A design system is neither a **Figma file** with nested symbols, **Sketch** or other graphics files. It's not even the **component library or a bootstrap** – apart from components, it must include the knowledge and context of using them. 

If there is a lack of shared understanding of a design system, navigating the work process is impossible because everyone has a different idea of what you want to create. In this case, the first step might be to develop essential documentation with basic definitions and assumptions.



1) Do we know what we want to build?


It may be clear that your organisation needs a design system: it has an **extensive ecosystem of IT projects that need to evolve, is planning new projects**, or your teams of designers and developers **struggle to communicate and achieve coherent results.** You know you are wasting time because app development is taking forever. You are aware of the weaknesses of your UX and the lack of consistency between systems. Finally, you know that you are paying twice (or ten times) for the exact solutions implemented separately in many different places.

But do your key stakeholders know this?

The idea of a design system is to create it once and use it many times. But it’s you who should make sure everyone in the organisation is aware of the benefits a design system brings, such as:

- Increased time and cost efficiency when building new products, 
- Coherent branding of applications within the ecosystem, 
- Reduced costs of developing existing applications, 
- Better user experience,
- Optimised control over roles and permissions. 

It is also essential to know that people understand the change that a design system will bring – especially because implementation is not the end of the project (we'll get to that later).


2) Does everyone understand why we need a design system?


Before we jump into questions about the key skills and competencies needed to build a design system, we want to alert you to a common pitfall. Many managers think that a design system is a project – a set of operations that bring a singular goal. We tend to think of it as **a product that creates value for a user by solving a specific problem.**

What's unique about a product is that it's never finished. Its inherent features require constant work with refactoring and component development. As a product, the design system needs resources and support not only to be built but also to be maintained and evolved.

We can say that creating a design system consists of two phases. The first phase, which usually takes six to twelve months, is the development, when you intensively work on building new components and adding them to the library. Over time, the library fills up, and new parts are added less frequently. Then comes the maintenance phase (12+ months), which never ends – at least as long as the product lives. It’s crucial to understand this and plan your work and the engagement of your employees accordingly.


3) Are you ready to treat the design system as a product? 

Team skills and competencies

Once you know the basics, it's time to think about the design system team. The first thing you'll probably want to assess is whether you have the internal capacity to build it. From our experience, we can say that a design system team should consist of **at least two full-time employees: a full-time UI designer and a full-time front-end developer.**

"Full-time" is a key term here. If you think you can pull your staff away from their regular jobs for a few hours a week to develop a design system, it will not work. You need a team – people working together, agreeing on and implementing the process.

You might also consider adding a **UX designer** to the team and a **product owner** to help you manage the project, develop strategies, plan, and move things forward according to your roadmap. As the project evolves, so does the team: you might need a content designer, UX writer, researchers, data analysts and others. 

Note that after the most intense part of work (after roughly 12 months), you probably won’t need a full-time team; it will be enough to engage people for 20-25% of their time.

4) Do you have enough people and the right team for the job?

The size of the team is as important as the skills and competencies of the people who make it up. You should carefully decide whether the people working for you can handle the following tasks:

- create process documentation 
- conduct user interviews 
- gather system requirements 
- create system fundamentals and structures 
- create system components and assess their usability

Remember, this is **the team** we're talking about – the people you hire for this project need to **collaborate**, constantly sharing ideas and giving each other feedback. In the design systems space, a component designed by UI affects the front end and vice versa. Therefore, it's critical that those working on it think holistically about how the different pieces work together to create a cohesive experience for the end users – journalists, media staff and editors. For this reason, your team should be user-centric: Understand user needs and turn feedback into solutions.

Communication skills are equally important – after all, your team will present the vision to key stakeholders and partners. Other "soft" skills that might come in handy are curiosity and a genuine passion for design – if you have someone really interested in design systems, you'll most likely end up with great results.


5) Does the team have the right skills and competencies?


This is probably **one of the most important questions you should ask** and **a serious red flag if the answer is "no".** Building design systems requires particular skills, and few experts are on the market, especially in the media industry. 

When planning a design system, ask if people have previous experience in the field, how often they have done it and how long ago. "Fresh" people who want to deal with a design system challenge **can make costly mistakes**, despite being enthusiastic about new tasks. If you have doubts about their experience, consider hiring an external consultancy and delivery team with proven experience in the media industry. Such an attitude eliminates the risk of failure and guarantees peace of mind. 

More questions about a design system in your organisation? [Let’s talk —->](https://autentika.com/contact) 


6) Is the team experienced in building design systems?

Technology and processes

Your partners should know what tools and technologies they will use throughout the process. It's worth checking if they have specific applications in mind, such as

- **Design**: Figma, Sketch, inVision, Adobe XD
- **Development**: React, Angular, Vue, webpack, Node, styled-components, xstyled, Typescript, CSS-in-JS
- **Documentation**: Storybook, zeroheight, Docusaurus

The challenge with the toolset is that it largely depends on the technology you already  use in your organisation – whether your existing applications were built in one, two or three frameworks, and whether you have some old, legacy systems. The bar also increases if you want to build mobile apps with one code source on multiple platforms.


7) What technology will you use?

Aside from tools, it's essential to have processes in place. You should ask product and design teams if they have prepared a process for developing and maintaining the design system, a process for creating documentation and sharing knowledge about the new DS.

**The knowledge-sharing process** is especially important here because you created the DS for a reason. Its goal is to **make new applications faster and cheaper**, so the organisation must ensure that new products are not created in isolation from the design system. People must know that the design system exists and how to use it. 

Another point that should not be neglected is the documentation process. It is something that simply needs to be done, and if someone on a team undermines the necessity of documenting the process – **it’s a red flag**. Documentation is where many mistakes and inconsistencies show up. Sometimes you even conclude that you need an extra person in the team who could take care of it – so think in advance about how the process will be handled and which tools you’re going to use. 


8) Do you have processes to create and maintain the design system?

Building a design system is only the beginning of work – the real ride starts when the DS is actually in place because now people should be using it to build new products. That's why it's good **to have a person in the organisation responsible for sharing knowledge and keeping track of all the teams supposed to use the DS.**

It's not easy to find such a person: He or she must know the entire organisation well and have a bird's eye view of all teams and processes in the IT department. It's best if such a person is a kind of "free electron" who isn't tied to any team. That way, they can surf around the company, attend various meetings, talk to people, and “manage by walking around”. We can call him/her a "space owner" – **someone who knows what is going on and what is planned in terms of development.**


9) Who will be responsible for the design system maintenance?

Your team should know the forecasted results a design system will bring to the business regarding speed and efficiency. How much time can be saved thanks to a design system? What cost optimisation are we discussing? What percentage of components from a design system will be used to build a new application? 

From our experience, we can say that it’s highly possible to estimate those results – for example, if you build an application in four months instead of six, you will save at least 60 man-days, which already adds up to a certain amount of money. Your partners should be able to give you a similar answer – and if they’re not – **it’s another red flag.**


10) How will you measure the effectiveness of the design system?

These 10 questions should give you a good overview of staff knowledge and skills and help you decide if you can handle building a design system with your internal team. It might turn out that in-house resources aren't sufficient – employees are busy with other tasks or lack the necessary experience to carry on such a complex task. Don't worry – this is a normal situation and doesn't mean you can't build a design system.

Red flags or vague answers you hear at the meeting should prompt you to seek outside help. But it doesn't have to be a typical agency that uses "one fits all" stamp solutions. It can be a partner you work with to develop a customised system for your needs.

At Autentika, we know that media companies require unique design systems, and we're ready to start that journey with you. Let's talk about your needs and share experiences – we'll be happy to consult with you to help you achieve your goals.


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Design system in a media organisation: 10 questions you should ask at your next meeting

We are thrilled to announce that we have been nominated for the UX Design Award 2023! Our submission, "[Back-office system for the online media group,](https://autentika.com/projects/wp)" was chosen from a competitive pool of over 300 entries from 58 nations.

The expert jury recognized the hard work and dedication put into our project, and we are honoured to have been selected for this distinction.
As we look forward to the virtual UX Design Awards and winner exhibition, we are excited to see our project promoted alongside the other nominees.

This is an incredible opportunity for us to showcase our innovative solutions in the field of custom editorial software for the online media industry and to connect with other design leaders.

We want to thank the jury for recognizing our efforts and giving us this opportunity to shine. We are eager to see the outcome and celebrate the achievements of all the nominees.

Congratulations to our team at Autentika for this well-deserved nomination. We are excited about the journey ahead and can't wait to see where it takes us! 


The UX Design Awards foster the impact experience design has on shaping our lives. Originating in 2008 as a show for good usability, they established the Awards in 2015. Ever since, the UX Design Awards have been honouring exceptional experiences and presenting UX talent across the world. 

The UX Design Awards present great experiences and accomplished solutions – across all fields and industries worldwide.

More information [here](https://ux-design-awards.com/about ).



About UX Design Awards

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Autentika takes the UX design world by Storm: wins nomination for UX Design Awards!

This blog post will share the key insights and lessons we've learned from our work with media newsrooms over the past four years. We'll cover topics such as the importance of understanding the habits and needs of editorial teams, the significance of including all necessary parties in product demonstrations, and the value of thorough research and ongoing iteration in designing effective solutions. 

Suppose you are a media professional looking to understand this field's unique challenges and opportunities. In that case, we hope you'll find this post informative and valuable.

Usually, designers create innovative things. But, for apps that users use many hours a day, knowing the user's habits determines success. Innovation is not always the solution.
It's more like creating a Word or Excel than a website or startup panel used three times a month. 

It is, therefore, crucial to know the habits of users. For example, in one editorial office, we spent a couple of days physically sitting in the room with them. We watched how they work, chose topics, argued which article would be on the main page and which won't, and conducted interviews in the next room or on the phone. How they add content in the CMS, and what the process looks like further down the line. Professionally, this is called ethnographic research. It means data acquisition that involves observing and describing the behaviour of a given social group in its 'natural' environment. In this case, it's a workplace. Our task is to transfer these observations into the system to make the work as easy as possible. 

Another example was when the editors told us they would prefer to avoid having buttons to save article settings in the bottom right corner. They used Windows, where the notifications that are just as important to them at work pop up. And those modal notifications cover their buttons. We all worked on Macs, where the messages automatically pop up in the top left corner. So our intuition and habits didn't work for the newsroom members. 


1) Habits vs. innovation

A product demo presents how the system works for your customer. These meetings are essential because it is at these meetings that the newsroom should make a majority of decisions. 

If you send an email to such a large organisation, you can wait a few weeks for a response. Or never receive a reply. If you want dynamics, you create new things and versions week after week; then, you bring demos to the meeting. 

During a product demo, everyone in the room can speak up; there's a discussion, and each time you go back to your notes, draw a new version and revise. And so on every week. 

There should be people in the room who are needed to continue the process, such as developers. It used to happen to us that we agreed on something with the team, and we worked on it. Still, the developers disagreed with our idea because they were not at the meeting. 

If a company has multiple editorial teams, then there should be representatives from each newsroom on such a demo. It is essential because everyone may work slightly differently and need different functions. 

2) Product demo

Analysing large newsrooms' workflow (editors, journalists, reporters) and then translating the conclusions into concrete recommendations required meticulousness and precision. The smallest detail can have a measurable impact on saving time and the comfort of people's work. 

We introduce the principle of iteration to every project. It is natural in innovative digital projects to provide new information during development. The customer often reminds us of something and wants to add it. Or we find a feature we want to implement. Iteration should be written into the DNA of running such a project. 

Once, we designed the process of adding a piece of information with two clicks. Later, in a meeting with editors, it turned out that it couldn't be two clicks. It had to be one click because working on the homepage grid is very dynamic and requires a specific reaction at a given time. We organised the interface to accommodate the most important things in the first click. 

3) Detail matters

Every project of this scale requires interdisciplinary collaboration on the design and development line. Both front-end and back-end have their own perspective that designers should include in the solution.

We had a situation where we collaborated intensely with the front-end in the beginning. Then the collaboration between design and the front-end in the context of component development and design system was severely neglected (changing priorities). The team narrowed down the scope of work on the design system at the expense of other products. 

Suddenly, we needed more collaboration between the front-end and design. Everyone was doing their own thing, and these things started to diverge strongly structurally and in terms of performance. And that's the essential thing: front-end and design need to speak the same language and consult each other in every possible way.  

4)  Interdisciplinary collaboration

We often highlight trust in the context of project execution as an essential ingredient of collaboration, often decisive for success. 

Partners can build trust on two levels: 

- Business level – it is about time and money. A client has to trust an expert to work in a time and material (T&M) model. It means that we should be involved in setting the project schedule. The time and budget are not imposed in advance. 
- Project level – IT companies recommendations must be listened to carefully. In our case, if there were dissenting opinions, it was often left to us to decide what to do. It wasn't the organisation saying: OK, let's go right. Usually, the company was saying: let Autentika decide. They are experts. 

These two factors build responsibility and efficiency, and we simply want to work hard. When there is trust, you want to give your best quality to such a project. 

For example, at the beginning of our collaboration with one company, we used Atomic Design. After a while, it became clear that this was not a good solution, so we presented our point of view to the partner. Even though we spent time and money on it, the company trusted us and agreed to the changes. 

It means that we were fearless in admitting a mistake. Because at the same time, we came up with solutions that had arguments and that were acceptable.  It puts collaboration in a different light: it's not the company that comes to us after a while and says: we see a mistake; you've messed up the work. It's us coming in and saying: there's a mistake; let's stop. 

A project based on trust has a much better chance of success. 

5) Patience and trust

User research is super important. We must speak to people in the same language and use the correct words. We are entering into a partnership for a long term. We are not an ordinary company that will disappear after a short time. 

We once had a situation where we needed to figure out what the editors meant when they used the words 'category pool'. We called it differently in the system, and it took us some time to figure out the correct language. 

Working with many newsrooms, editors use different vocabulary when describing the same things. Each company has its slang, and user research needs to be passed in each company. 

Before you start creating or changing software, it is always worth checking how people use it and the other systems they use.

6) Language 

Prepare yourself for the unexpected. It is a stable condition in this type of project. It is often the case that after you have already agreed with all the decision-makers, you come in a week, and the decision will be completely different. It is a natural process, and you must be mentally prepared. The designer's mindset is essential. 

Designers should also prepare themselves technically for this. Suppose a company does not invest in design system development, components, automation, and auto-layouts. The idea of scaling should come from the beginning because it may not be possible to start the scaling process in the middle of a project. You would have to start from the beginning, then. It is called technology debt, and paying it back is expensive.

7) Scaling

Refactoring is needed when something goes wrong in the design or development process; something has to be changed, added or removed. Refactoring development means that if you were starting the process from scratch, you would do it differently, but not by doing it all over again. 

At one point, we had to move from Sketch to Figma. It might have seemed like we were taking a step backwards because moving the whole system takes a long time. However, it takes us much less time with Figma to design new applications. Thanks to the better features in Figma, we work faster, which means less expense for a client. The time spent migrating to Figma has already paid for itself a couple of times in just one year after the transition.

8) Refactoring 

A design system is a collection of tools and processes that facilitate designing, building, and developing digital products. Component libraries, principles, tools and processes are the best that could happen in web app design. 

Designers can never finish working on a design system because systems are evolving. With transformation, however, it is optional to design only new elements. You can use those already designed and possibly add or change parts. For one newsroom, it took us only 42h to design one of the applications, thanks to design system components. 

If you want to know more about Design Systems, [read our article.](https://autentika.com/blog/why-should-you-invest-in-a-design-system-when-planning-digital-transformation) 


9) Design System: a never-ending story 

Working with media newsrooms over the past four years has taught us valuable lessons about the importance of understanding the habits and needs of editorial teams and the significance of including all necessary parties in product demonstrations. 

If you are a media newsroom looking to improve your workflow and increase efficiency, consider partnering with an experienced team that has a proven track record in this field. [Check our case study](https://autentika.com/projects/wp) or [contact us](https://autentika.com/contact) to learn more about how we can help. 

newsroom.png

Nine lessons learned from working with newsrooms

The success of today's best online media companies is no longer only due to great journalists. Equally important is a tool that supports editorial processes using the capabilities of modern technology. See how good editorial software helps journalists. 

It's worth defining at the outset what quality means in an online newsroom. Good content is delivered quickly, rich in multimedia , and written in the correct language understandable to the audience. No less critical is arming the material with options to gain its reach . And finally, a good article is written by a journalist who is aware of the reader's context and the circumstances that will accompany the reader when they interact with the text.

One assumption - I know and follow the possibilities of modern AI tools that can create content on a given topic autonomously. However, in this article, I will focus on supporting human journalists in their, for the time being, irreplaceable work.


Accident, victory, premiere, attack, death - some events cannot wait, going through a tedious editorial process. A reader, Google, and social media want this information now, immediately. How to reduce the Time To Publish of breaking news?


#1 Your breaking news has to be delivered fast

To begin with, a journalist needs a "fast track" feature in their editorial system. The requirements for ordinary materials must be divided into two groups - the necessary minimum required for rapid publication and the rest, which the journalist will complete later. Maybe it's enough to set a title, and lead and the news is good to go? After all, the breaking news template can have a predefined photo, content (i.e. More information soon…), categories, and tags, which a reporter can update later anyway. Thanks to this, within several seconds, your news will be online as the first on the market.

Urgent events are often reported directly from the field. A journalist must be able to use basic content creation tools from a mobile device as well. News with a groundbreaking photo or video recorded with a phone should immediately hit the front page and directly compete with the dynamics of social media. Yes, it's a challenge, but isn't modern journalism an increasingly difficult discipline every year?

The best editorial software also speeds up work on ordinary content. Given that the average news story consists of dozens of pieces of descriptive, structural, administrative, reference, and legal metadata, a poorly designed tool leads to a bizarre situation in which a journalist spends more time filling them in than writing the actual content (yes, I’ve seen many such cases among large newsrooms). For clarity, by metadata, I mean, for example, a title, categories, tags, an author, SEO settings, sources and many more.

In practice, much of this information can be automatically obtained from existing places:

1. Even if you eliminated a requirement of unnecessary information, check whether the journalist doesn't have to complete the ones he has already provided once… 

2. The author may have his own preferences and settings to be imported, containing metadata describing his work area, specialisation, and favourite options.

3. The system can recommend article settings analysing the author's history and statistics. 

4. The system can suggest options based on current newsroom trends. 

5. Finally, modern tools automatically suggest metadata based on a live analysis of the content.

It's more than just completing metadata that reporters can do faster. While I don't believe robots will ultimately steal a journalist's job, we have been designing tools in which automated journalism plays a significant role. Based on the text, the AI-controlled robo-reporter recommends images, videos, whole new paragraphs, links and many more. Further, the journalist decides which elements will ultimately go into his material.

Read more: [Recommendations mechanisms used in Wirtualna Polska (case study)](https://autentika.com/projects/wp)

Text is no longer enough. At least not always. Attractive news also includes photos, videos, embedded social media posts, maps and other goodies that increase the power of the message and effectively compete for the reader's attention.


#2 There is more than only a text expected

A journalist needs to access multimedia from their primary work tool. Integration with popular photo agencies allows one to search the entire photo database simultaneously. It is a good idea to teach your technology to recognise human faces, multiplying the results' quality. It may also be a good idea to populate photo metadata with the text surrounding images in articles.

Photos

The selected photo doesn’t have to go into the text in its raw form. First of all, a journalist must be able to crop and rotate it without using external tools. It should definitely happen inside the main system.

Further, a gallery in the form of a slider, mosaic, or accordion? A comparison of two photos (e.g., before vs. after) as a moving slider? How about interactive hotspots that reveal additional content to the reader when clicked?


Editorial offices usually use their own video materials (again, a search is a challenge!) and public materials from the most popular platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion and others. Adding has to be simplified to pasting a link and the software will do the rest. Otherwise, it's a waste of a journalist's time. It should be equally easy to use the wealth of social media. A post from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter could go to the article right after entering the URL.

Video

A reporter can also enhance the article in other ways. A meaningful quote, a table with essential data, a stock chart, a review summary in the form of a rate or pros and cons, and a survey are just a few examples of the arsenal that good editorial software makes available to a journalist.

However, the condition for using media and add-ons is a good user experience. In addition to the wealth of possibilities, journalists appreciate the simple, quick service and a live preview of the article. Creators want to see the exact photo, video or Instagram post they inserted, not a symbol in the form of a grey rectangle, placeholder text or other imitations.

Other embeds

Today, many journalists use third-party content editors or built-in features of web browsers that check text correctness and spelling. Still, only a few newsrooms have their editorial software integrated with a writing assistant API. 

Tools such as Grammarly or Readable (but there are more and in different languages) deal with readability comprehensively , evaluating the so-called FOG index. Grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary, style and tone are analysed on an ongoing basis, and recommendations are ready-made solutions to make the text understandable and consistent with the author's intention.

#3 Technology helps write better

A writing assistant will show the journalist, for example, too long sentences, the use of words that are not very understandable, the need to use a synonym instead of repetition or excessive use of the passive voice.


Some of these tools assess plagiarism risk by comparing the created text to millions of existing articles. In the era of excessive citation of sources and the negative effect of this type of conduct on the Google robot, such safeguards become critical.

Gaining popularity, understood as page views of an article, starts with the journalist and his work in the content creation tool. The reporter can compete for the presence and clickthrough rate of the article on the website's main page, Google and social media. How can technology help here?

#4 A better start for your content

A visual highlight of the article, first of all, does not have to (although it can) be the same image as the main one in the article itself. Moreover, it doesn't have to be a photo but a video (remember autoplay: on, sound: off:). The important thing is that the featured frame should arouse interest and be technically compatible with the small size of the teaser and the title often placed on it. I’ve often encountered the need to prepare multiple frames for different slots and devices. An image cropper that manages various frames is a must, then. A journalist will also appreciate the option to set an Open Graph image that appears when you publish content on your social accounts.

Image

Its length and how it appears on different devices is easy to check even before publishing. A character counter will compare the title with Google's recommendations , and a preview of a teaser will ensure a good presentation on the homepage. Let's also mention the option to set a special version for SEO and slug (part of the URL after the last backslash).

Title

It's a pity to be limited to one set of titles and images. Technology makes it possible to quickly test several variants proposed by the journalist and, in the end, use the one with the highest CTR.

A/B testing 

A reader naturally directs attention to the keywords "Live", "Breaking", Top Story", and "Watch", so a broad palette of such labels must be available in the CMS of a modern editorial office.


Labels

Google's robot, when assessing the value of content, also takes into account many factors, including text length, paragraph and subheadings architecture and other metadata: type of content (news, seasonal, evergreen), tags & categories, adult flag, canonical tag. Management, live communication of errors and warnings, but most importantly, auto-completion and suggestion of the best solutions are features desired by the editorial staff today.

Content

The SEO department loves links in the content, but journalists prefer to avoid inserting them manually at all. However, there is nothing to prevent a machine from recommending the linking of specific words and only informing the author.

An editorial software that blocks the article with technical errors affecting the chance of getting coverage is really not rocket science in 2022.

Read more: [News pieces management in Polish media giant (case study)](https://autentika.com/projects/wp)


Links

The content and metadata are checked and optimised according to best practices. Is the article ready? Is the journalist sure what kind of experience the reader will have after interacting with the material? No? Yet he could! 

A preview in the viewer's environment proves helpful, yet in the process of writing an article. The option to view content in a template of your website is a great chance to see how:

- the content fits in the page layout and how it interacts with other surrounding elements. Maybe an automatically added video interrupts the story you are telling at an inappropriate moment, and you want to change that? 
- ads affect the perception of content. Maybe too short paragraphs create an unpleasant effect of accumulation of ads, and you can still do something about it?
- a smaller screen on a mobile device creates a different reader experience. Maybe the embedded infographic needs to be more readable, and you should add a link to its full size?

#5 Reader Experience

I believe that especially ignoring the mobile device context is a huge journalists mistake. Of course, most editorial workflow systems don’t support reporters in any way. How can you write, check and publish news on a desktop on Friday at 9pm, when the usage of mobile devices often reaches 90% or even more?

And yet, there's nothing to prevent the editorial team from analysing traffic statistics and building awareness on an ongoing basis. During the dominance of mobile traffic at many stages of article creation, the system can effectively remind a journalist of the specifics of the small screen. Decisions about content, settings, or pinning a news story on the homepage must consider the nature of the device.

Only a handful of newsrooms, even in the largest media holdings, work on cutting-edge tools built according to their needs, taking advantage of the potential of modern technology. Most editorial offices use crude, built in-house tools, without designers, and a thoughtful process.

The options I listed are a quick sprint on the surface of the most important aspects of a sound editorial system. But the truth is yet different. The entire path of creating a tool for an editorial office must take into account the goals and requirements of the modern online media industry and your organisation from start to finish. With this assumption, at the end of the day, your satisfied journalists will create better-quality content.

Almost no journalist loves their content management system

Are you planning to modernise your online media business?[ Read our award winning case study of Wirtualna Polska. ](https://autentika.com/projects/wp)


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How can modern editorial software be your journalists' superpower?

With a design system, work on IT projects is **cheaper, quicker, and more cohesive, providing a better user experience.** 

Too many promises for one article? We don't think so. 

To prove a point, we have gathered information on the design systems, examples of companies that use them and their opinions. Let's dive in! 


A design system is a collection of tools and processes that facilitate designing, building, and developing digital products… Yes, it isn't straightforward.

Let us give you an example. 

Imagine you need a single button for your app. Preparing this simple element relates to making a few decisions: shape, fill, size, shadow, typeface to be used, margins, on-mouse-over, on-click effects, iconography, or the final code which will place it within the system. Let's add that such a button has to be coherent with other elements of the application, of which there are tens or even hundreds.

What is a design system?

Here's where a story begins, one which everyone, who has anything to do with software development, knows:

- The UX Designer doesn’t deal with most of the above characteristics of the button,
- The UI Designer designs a new look for every button for each of the created projects separately,
- The Front-end Developer writes code in a way that multiplies discrepancies by making further decisions of their own.

And this is just the beginning of all problems to come. Let's multiply those issues by the number of projects at the company and the number of people that work there, considering staff and team rotation, time, and budgetary pressures. Result?

The example above leads to unpleasant consequences: 

- **A waste of time and energy –** software development is limited by lengthy design and development procedures.

- **Weak UX** – users who use many different apps from the same company don’t feel they are dealing with a single ecosystem.

- **Lack of coherence** – every system of the same company works and looks different, even if it has similar elements at first sight. 

- High cost of development – the company bears the cost of creating the same elements repeatedly for different purposes.

What are the lack of a design system consequences? 

In practice, a design system is a library of components that combine design, code, and knowledge of how to use them. It is based on the simple idea – create once, use many times. 

 And no, a component library itself is not yet a design system. Design or code on their own does not comprise a design system. Knowledge itself is not a design system either. All those elements must be properly combined and created together as a process and the final source of truth for designers and developers alike.

Design system in practice 

Signals that you should develop a design system within your organisation can be combined into a few common characteristics: 

- If your company already has an extensive ecosystem of IT systems, which it intends to develop, you may need a design system.

- You may need a design system if your company plans to develop new IT systems.

- If teams of designers and developers at your company are facing communication issues and struggling to obtain coherent results, you may need a design system.

We use the word "may" deliberately because the discussion on design systems is much more complex. In our initial conversations with our clients, we closely examine their project portfolio, platforms, and the technologies used to build those platforms. We define the expected level of coherence between those platforms and systems and analyse the structure and competencies of their implementation teams.

 There is no single, universal way to build a design system. The plan depends on the ecosystem of IT projects within your company and the goals you want to achieve.

Who is a design system for?

The stakes are high indeed. A correctly implemented, used, and developed design system translates into tangible advantages for your business: 

1. You can use it to create new projects faster by increasing the productivity of your design and development teams.
2. You can save money on developing existing products because your code will be reusable, and prototyping will become simpler.
3. You can make your applications more coherent regarding how they look and feel, and work and turn them into a single ecosystem.
4. You can provide your users with a proper level of comfort by promoting good UX and reusable UX templates.

Benefits of a design system for your organisation

We asked Basilissa Albers, design system Product Owner @Adverity, what are the three most important benefits of implementing a design system in her organisation:

Take a look at the flagship solutions of IT giants. They have been providing proof for quite some time that a design system is a meaningful improvement of their development process:

- Shopify's Polaris design system: https://polaris.shopify.com/
- Salesforce's Lightning design system: https://www.lightningdesignsystem.com/
- IBM's Carbon design system: https://www.carbondesignsystem.com/
- Adobe's Spectrum design system: https://spectrum.adobe.com/ 
- Google's Material design system: https://material.io/design/ 


Design system examples 

We have been working together with [Wirtualna Polska Group](https://holding.wp.pl/en) for more than four years. They are one of the biggest media holdings in Central Europe and reach 22.1 million users every month. Over the 25 years, they have accumulated many different digital tools ( advertising, IT, and editorial, among others). Our job was to create a coherent back-office system (including a design system) . Set of solutions that support the growth of existing and development of new tools. If you want to learn more, check out our case study. 

Here’s what Aleksandra Rabenda, Head of Delivery Team @ WP says about design system:

Design System for online media industry

A design system is a collection of tools and processes that simplify digital product development, construction and design.
The decision to develop your design system must be preceded by a thorough analysis based on solid business grounds. It is the kind of conversation we would like to encourage. Are you ready to join it?

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Why should you invest in a design system when planning digital transformation?

There are many things to consider when designing an app that uses a map. How will the user interact with the map? What information should be displayed on the map? This blog post will discuss essential factors in designing a successful map for your app.

A mapplication, or map-based application, is a tool that uses maps and geographic information to help users achieve a specific goal. Mapplications are becoming increasingly popular as people rely more on GPS to get around. 

Mapplications are especially useful when used with other data sources, such as weather reports or real-time traffic information. By combining different data types, mapplications can provide a more comprehensive picture of an area and help users make more informed decisions. Mapplications are also constantly evolving, with new features and capabilities being added all the time.

1. What is a mapplication, and why are they useful?

When it comes to a map-based app design, there are a few key factors to keep in mind to create an effective and user-friendly experience:

- Mapplication design is all about creating an effective and user-friendly interface that helps users navigate their way around. It should be interactive, allowing users to zoom in and out as needed. The map should be clear and concise, with labels that are easy to read.
- The map should be integrated with other advanced app features, such as directions and search. This will allow users to find the information they need quickly.
- The app should have clear and concise icons and labels that users can easily identify. Use different colours to distinguish between different types of information. For example, using light blue for water bodies and green for land masses.
- Considering a base map layer is covered by several other pieces of data, a user would benefit from having a show/hide feature. These customisation options let him make his own set of visible layers according to his needs.
- The map should be regularly updated with new data and content to keep users engaged.
- Last but not least, you need to make sure that your mapplication provides significant value to users. That is, it should offer users something that they can't find anywhere else. This could be in the form of exclusive deals, customised content, or unique features.

2. How do you design a mapplication that is effective and user-friendly?

One of the most common mistakes made in mapplication design is making the interface too complicated. A mapplication should be easy to use and understand, with a simple interface. Users should be able to navigate their way around the map without any difficulty.

Another common mistake is not keeping the map up-to-date. It's important to regularly update the map with new data and content to ensure that users have the most accurate information possible.

Some mapplications fail to provide enough value to users.  As mentioned earlier, a mapplication needs to offer users something that they can't find anywhere else. Without this, users will quickly become bored and move on to another app.

It is important to test the mapplication on different devices to ensure that it works well on all of them. Some users prefer mobile apps, and some prefer desktop or web apps. It also depends on the type of work employees do. 

3. What are some common mistakes made in mapplication design?

In addition to the points mentioned above, there are a few other things to keep in mind when designing a maps-based app. First, it's important to think about how users will interact with the map itself. Will they need to zoom in and out often? What types of features will they need to be able to see? 


4. Are there any other things to consider when designing a maps-based app?

Second, it's also worth considering how the map will fit into the overall design of the app. 


Will it be the main focus, or will it be one element among many? Finally, it's important to keep in mind that mapplication development is a complex process, and several factors can impact the end result. As such, it's important to work with an experienced development team to ensure that your app meets your specific needs and expectations. Sometimes you have only one chance.

Mapplications are becoming increasingly popular as businesses look to create interactive and engaging experiences for their users. However, designing a map-based application can be a challenge. Mapplication design is a complex and ever-evolving field, and there are several things to consider when designing a maps-based app.

When it comes to design, the most important thing is to keep the user in mind. What features will they need? What type of device will they be using? It's important to think about how users will interact with the map and how the map will fit into the overall design of the app. In addition, it's important to keep in mind the latest trends in mapplication design to ensure that your app remains up-to-date and relevant. 

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Mapping Your Way to App Success: What You Need to Know About Mapplication Design

This year we were awarded first prize in the Develop & Deliver and People’s Choice categories at [DesignWays 2022](https://www.designways.io), one of Poland’s largest UX/UI designers conferences.  Winning the contest was the crowning achievement of the hard work we put into the [Wirtualna Polska](https://holding.wp.pl/en) project and validation of the values that guide us at Autentika.  


Wirtualna Polska is an online media giant.  Every month they reach 22,1 million real users. For the past twenty-five years, WP has been developing its own back-office systems (including IT, advertising, and editorial). As their ecosystem grew, they started to have issues with managing the software applications they acquired through other businesses. This made maintenance complicated and in some cases prevented further development.

Our task was to create a coherent ecosystem (including a design system). Set of solutions that support the growth of existing and development of new tools. We also dealt with building a positive user experience, i.e. editing dozens of portals.We questioned existing solutions, proposing a revolution. 

And it worked! Today WP owns one of the best editorial apps in the online media industry. 

About our project 

We were at a company meeting a week before the results were announced. Since we work online, we all gather once a year together to spend time and get to know each other better. It was nice to see those smiling faces, the excitement. We have to admit that we have quite a sense of humour! 

Sitting around the campfire, we talked about the contest, and many of us believed that the jury would appreciate our work. After all, we have been creating this project for four years!


What happened the week before the results were announced

Finally, Monday came, and the results were announced. Our intuition was not wrong. Ania, our HR lady, went to Cracow for the conference to represent us. We waited patiently online. Finally, we got a message from Ania: 

- Two first places!!! Not only in the Develop & Deliver category but also in People's Choice!

What was our joy!!! We felt like a soccer team that won the European championship! Winning in the Develop & Deliver category meant we were awarded among 25 other great projects at a really high level.

Announcement of results

The victory in both categories has shown us that the values we follow can bring tangible results. We are a diverse team of people in different age groups: from twenty-year-olds to programmers over 40. We have one thing in common: a passion for being authentic. 

It is worth mentioning here the story of Michal, the founder of our company. Authenticity and honesty flow in his blood. This reflects the name of our company- Autentika. He started the company 17 years ago as a self-taught freelancer. 

There was no UX / UI division back then, so he did both. He got many clients over a couple of years, and they were happy with the result. And so there was a need to hire people, have a company and a brand. People have always emphasised that working with him is concrete, reliable, timely, and honest. 

So when looking for a name, he focused on such values. And since these values are his authentic behaviour, nothing rehearsed or exaggerated; he has chosen Autentika. 


Our values 

The story above explains why the company has been attracting interesting characters from the very beginning. Personalities who can be sincere in giving feedback and also sometimes admit to being wrong. 

Being authentic works in every situation. When we talk to a client, we ensure that the entire process (into which large budgets are often put) is transparent. It allows the client to have peace of mind that the time and money invested will yield the expected results. 

Thanks to clear communication between team members, we can quickly locate potential problems and solve them. Besides, things are never boring on Slack. Honest conversations on various topics (from politics to hobbies) are a fantastic refresher during work. And fun! 

And all this happened in the Wirtualna Polska project. 

Therefore, we would like to thank the organisers, the jury of DesignWays and everyone involved in our success. We can't wait for the following challenging projects :)


Exclusive insights from our work with newsrooms and companies