executive
How do we design the perfect media app? How should it work? What should it do? What must be in it?
Over the next couple of months I will look at various aspects of this. But when I was writing the synopsis for this series, it became apparent very quickly that 99% of the problems we see in the world of media apps, are caused by lack of experience with digital media. And when we combine this with the print mentality, and print business models, the result is rather bad.
In fact, when we combine all these factors, the actual design of the app makes little difference. It doesn't matter how beautiful it is or how well it works. The problem is not the design, the problem is the very foundation of how it is built.
So in this report, we are going to deconstruct the main reason why apps fail. And illustrate why you need to take a different route before you even get to the point of deciding how your app should look and work.
It all started in 1996...
One thing that is puzzling about the media industry is how they think about the web. For more than 20 years, digital publishers have been trying to find the best way to publish content digitally on the web. And through this journey we have made every conceivable mistake that we could make. We have had successes and failures. We have optimized and deconstructed. We have tried making things simple, and also made them excruciatingly difficult to use.
This Baekdal/Executive article can only accessed bysubscribing to Baekdal/Executive (which also gives you full access to our full archieve of executive reports)
Baekdal is a magazine for media professionals, focusing on media analysis, trends, patterns, strategy, journalistic focus, and newsroom optimization. Since 2010, it has helped publishers in more than 40 countries, including big and small publishers like Condé Nast, Bonnier, Schibsted, NRC, and others, as well as companies like Google and Microsoft.
Baekdal comes in three tiers:
Free weekly newsletters for media professionals, focusing on news, trends, and quick insights.
Weekly media insights and analysis for journalists, editors, and business managers, helping you focus and optimize your newsroom and audience engagement.
In-depth media reports for editors-in-chief, executives, and other decision makers, helping you understand the future of media, trends, patterns, monetization, data, and strategies.
Founder, media analyst, author, and publisher. Follow on Twitter
"Thomas Baekdal is one of Scandinavia's most sought-after experts in the digitization of media companies. He has made himself known for his analysis of how digitization has changed the way we consume media."
Swedish business magazine, Resumé
executive
executive
executive
executive
executive
executive