How might CBS redesign its news website to better highlight breaking stories and encourage longer user sessions?

Introduction

CBS's news website redesign presents an exciting opportunity to enhance user engagement and highlight breaking stories more effectively. To address this challenge, I'll focus on improving the website's structure, content presentation, and user experience to encourage longer sessions and prioritize breaking news. I'll follow a structured approach, starting with clarifying questions, then moving through user segmentation, pain point analysis, solution generation, and finally, evaluation and measurement.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions

• Looking at the product context, I'm thinking about the current user behavior on the CBS news website. Could you share some insights on the average session duration and the typical user journey when accessing breaking news?

Why it matters: This information will help us identify specific areas for improvement and set realistic goals for increasing session duration. Expected answer: Average session duration is around 3-4 minutes, with users typically accessing breaking news via the homepage or push notifications. Impact on approach: If the session duration is short, we'll focus on improving content discovery and creating more engaging layouts to keep users on the site longer.

• Considering the competitive landscape, I'm curious about CBS's unique value proposition in the digital news space. How does CBS differentiate itself from other major news outlets, and what are the key strengths we should leverage in this redesign?

Why it matters: Understanding CBS's strengths will help us design solutions that reinforce its brand identity and competitive advantage. Expected answer: CBS is known for its in-depth investigative reporting and high-quality video content. Impact on approach: We might prioritize solutions that showcase video content more prominently and create dedicated spaces for long-form investigative pieces.

• Thinking about the product lifecycle, where does the current CBS news website stand, and what are the primary goals driving this redesign initiative?

Why it matters: This will help us determine whether to focus on optimizing existing features or introducing new ones. Expected answer: The website is in a mature stage, with the primary goals being to increase user engagement and modernize the user experience. Impact on approach: We'll likely focus on refining the existing structure and introducing new engagement features rather than a complete overhaul.

• Considering the cross-platform strategy, how integrated is the website with CBS's mobile app and TV broadcast content? Are there any specific cross-platform initiatives we should keep in mind for this redesign?

Why it matters: This information will help us create a more cohesive user experience across different platforms and potentially leverage TV content to drive website engagement. Expected answer: There's moderate integration, with some shared content, but room for improvement in creating a seamless cross-platform experience. Impact on approach: We might explore ways to better integrate live TV streams or exclusive digital content to create a more compelling multi-platform experience.