Shyla Nott
inewsource website redesign

inewsource Website Redesign + Migration

PROJECT SUMMARY

Founded in 2009, inewsource is a nonprofit investigative newsroom in San Diego. Its mission is to a) provide data-driven, investigative journalism that has the potential to generate real world impact and b) train, mentor and develop the next generation of journalists.

inewsource wanted an online presence with greater potential to deepen engagement with audiences, build reader loyalty and grow digital revenue. However, as a small newsroom without a dedicated technical team, the WordPress site saw countless retrofits, modifications, and workarounds over the years, resulting in a Frankenstein.

Some of inewsource's goals for the website redesign included:

  • A publishing system that supports editing, distribution and revenue generation
  • Integration with newsletters, CRM, analytics and other third-party tools, technologies and services
  • Mobile-first design
  • Faster load times
  • Display larger images and video
  • Greater control of content, design and layout
  • Automatic updates

INEWSOURCE.ORG (BEFORE)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Beginning in 2019, I researched, pitched and led the effort to get organizational buy-in to use Newspack CMS. As the project manager, I oversaw the strategy, design and content migration.

Content analysis and inventory

I worked closely with contract developer Jim Tinsky and newsroom leadership throughout the project. We spent a lot of time going over inewsource's existing web presence to determine what content would remain and what needed to be updated or reorganized. This process gave us a list of top-performing pages, functionality and interactions we would need to incorporate into the new design. I also needed to be sure the new website addressed current and future business needs.

Site Structure and Sitemaps

This process was critical to understanding how content is organized. We created a content inventory of what was already published on the website. I then created current and new site structures to get a basic idea for how a user might move from one page to the next.

Wireframing

Using InVision, these wireframes formed the foundation for the rest of the visual design. I also provided the development team with a more detailed outline as well as functionality, behavior, and style specifications as early as possible. The site, and the homepage in particular, would evolve based on in-depth reporting projects, events and fundraising campaigns. How would the design evolve and accommodate announcements and investigative features?

INEWSOURCE.ORG (AFTER)