Domain
Media & Entertainment
Platform
Responsive Design
Services
Research, Strategy, Design
Unleashing print media in the digital landscape
With more than 2 million subscribers, Prajavani is a leading Kannada-language broadsheet daily newspaper. Prajavani wanted to reimagine their print newspaper in a digital-first ecosystem, bringing the print medium to screen, without losing the charm, engagement & delight factor of the original print format with a highly responsive design that blends well with mobile, tablet, & desktop screens.
Challenge
Digitizing one of Karnataka’s highest circulated dailies with unobtrusive ad placement that opens revenue streams without compromising on an optimal reading experience. Design a structure that blends with common mobile interfaces along with an intuitive navigation. Highly responsive & organized interface design with varied layouts for different sections of the news, optimized for different types of readers & personas while still keeping the experience of reading a print newspaper intact across a digital platform.
Solution
Prajavani is a brand synonymous with massive reach across Kannada readers, thus the aim of the redesign was to make the platform as accessible as possible to the masses while also resonating strongly with stark Kannada themes across the visual design language. Another critical element was strategic ad placement so as to create new revenue streams without affecting the optimal reading experience.
Our
research
We did in-depth qualitative & quantitative research on different types of personas & types of readers within the existing customer base of Prajavani. We also explored the mental models of the readers to get an understanding of the offline news reading experience, where Prajavani originally germinated & continues to thrive. Our research also included finding ways of making vernacular designs more accessible through different visual design elements.
Our
strategy
Our deep replication of end-users’ mental models enabled us to set the design language for unleashing the print medium on the digital landscape without losing the charm of the former version & adding all the convenience, speed, & delight of the latter. We realized the paucity of typography & grid structures currently available for vernacular scripts which made a cohesive visual design language an uphill task. Yet, we were able to build a more seamless & inclusive design language optimized for a diverse set of readers, aimed at growth & easy access to content.
Designing for masses
Focus on tier 2 & 3 cities readership
Responsive design
Interface that looks great on all devices
Truly Karnataka
Design that depicts the culture in its truest form
Design
execution
To increase Prajavani’s online readership, we had to ensure the design language resonated with local culture, in all its pride & grandeur & also followed easy, intuitive design patterns making the online platform accessible to millions of online readers. Prajavani’s digital makeover had a clear agenda – making vernacular news reach the masses at lightning speed.
The key highlights of the design process were
- Clear information hierarchy
- Clutter free visual design
- Unobtrusive ad placement
- Simple navigation pattern
Visual design
We focused on very simple 2-3-4 columns, each section with very clean visual hierarchy. We let the content drive the design, instead of the other way round. The visual design used for Prajavani’s online avatar consists of a highly minimalist design language. This conscious decision was taken to ensure that despite being a digital platform the reading experience was not far from that of an actual physical newspaper. We also added a host of custom micro-pages that explored different topical news segments (such as sports events or elections) in-depth through different content formats including articles, videos, op-eds & more.
The
outcomes
Complete digital transformation of leading Kannada print newspaper enabling Prajavani reach millions of Kannada news readers across the globe, which was earlier just limited to Karnataka. Our clean, minimal, & intuitive design language created an optimal online reading experience for millions of Prajavani’s readers who were used to reading the print format of the paper.
Discover the many more exciting ways we facilitated the digital transformation of Prajavani. Connect with us here today!
