Khoi Vinh (subtraction.com), former Design Director at New York Times, speaking at “FRIETAG am Donnerstag,” a breakfast lecture series in Zurich about his experiences at the position, which he left 2 months ago, and the failures of the industry to see how important the issue of user experience is in this digital age and in thinking that the traditional model of distribution is the problem. The video was put together by Tina Roth Eisenberg (swissmiss.com). Love the quote:
“Great journalism is its own justification! But great journalism is not a substitute for great user experience.”
Ideas, concepts, all of it can be applied across many industries but the take-away is to look at the value of what your users want and seek new ideas on how to distribute. Traditional models are breaking fast and furious and it pays to accept the needs of your users. Contrary to what many think, users are not desiring free content. Users are more than willing to pay for it when they find a value behind it. The problem is that our sense of value may differ from that of our users. Just as the news industry sees journalism as the value, users saw accessibility. We as designers have to look at how we deliver our goods and services and value to succeed.
Do you have a model that runs completely contrary to traditional model and yet succeeds (on the Web)? Tell me about it.