Description

Within USA TODAY NETWORK's DNA is the desire to innovate how the organization tells stories. Since 2018 USA TODAY's Emerging Technologies team has developed over 40 highly engaging and interactive augmented reality (AR) experiences, exploring complex, historical, and trending news topics. Recognizing an opportunity to improve the core user experience within the app's framework, the team leveraged engagement analytics and external user testing to develop a robust and intuitive user onboarding sequence, resulting in a 3x increase in average time spent per user.

A few media-rich AR experiences that include the updated framework are “Seven Days of 1961: A Dangerous Ride on the Road to Freedom,” "Champions of Women's Suffrage,” "Accused: The Impending Execution of Elwood Jones,” “Attica: A Prison Uprising 50 Years Later,” and many others. The Emerging Technology team has also implemented accessible designs to meet their audience's growing expectations for new and inclusive forms of premium interactive experiences.
Will Austin, the Senior Designer of Emerging Technology, will explore the evolution of UI/UX to foster a deeper understanding of AR amongst casual consumers. He will also share insights and case studies on USA TODAY's onboarding challenges, new instructional design, and its vision for the future of premium interactive editorial experiences.

Speakers

William Austin

Sr. Designer , Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORK