The Washington Post | Video Player
Product Design, Strategy, Concept, Research
Apr 2022 - February 2023
Views, views, views.
It’s no secret that video apps like TikTok are rapidly transforming the way people are consuming information around the globe. To ensure that The Washington Post is taking full advantage of the latest technology trends, there was an effort to quickly adapt vertical video to the homepage.
I had to rapidly build a vertical video carousel for the web, focused on mobile while ensuring the carousel worked in the rest of our ecosystem. During the execution of the project, I was the main point of contact with PM and engineering on design and tech feasibility, project management, visual quality assurance, testing, and user validation.
Zoom In.
As part of the research process, I had to understand how users interact with vertical video across several different spaces. This process also included a competitive analysis to understand how different companies utilize vertical video in their spaces. This analysis included TikTok, Facebook, YouTube Reels, and Instagram.
It was pivotal that I designed a vertical video experience that was familiar on, the mobile web, and a seamless experience on tablet or desktop. There was also cross-collaboration with the native apps team, who is working on the same effort to bring vertical video to the native apps space. We worked in tandem to provide an experience that created parity across the native apps space, mobile web, and our current and future ecosystem.
Stay Posted.
This feature allows our journalists to harness a mobile-friendly vertical storytelling format that is incredibly popular among younger audiences on social media platforms. It’s been an effective way to highlight Post personalities and provide users with a deeper understanding of what's going on in the world.
Since releasing this feature in February video starts are 19,791,450 (71.1% increase).
The homepage has seen a lift in traffic of 3,285,780 viewers (54.3%).
Vertical Video accounts for 54% of all video content consumed on The Washington Post.
This video carousel has become a cornerstone feature as we continue to lean into this popular storytelling format and modernize the look and feel of the app. If you’d like a demo click here.
If you’d like a full case study.