Many newsrooms around the globe dedicate generous human and monetary resources to the creation of new products. That is why this semester I have assigned my students in Multiplatform Design & Storytelling to create a product that they could pitch as an enhancement to a company’s existing offerings.

The students worked in teams of two and had to consider all aspects of the new product: content/storytelling, visuals and design, technical aspects and monetization efforts.

Anyone interested in additional information about these projects can contact me and/or the students directly. Their Twitter handles are given next to their names.

Today I am profiling two of the students’ new product projects.

Facebook Unearthed

News driven by topic, not political affiliation

Authors: Amanda Rosengarten (@amandafayerose) and Raishad Harnett (@RaishadHardnett)

Concept: Curated selection of story, highly personalized for Facebook users.

Take a look:

https://marvelapp.com/824c84h/screen/39243240

And again, the presentation link: https://prezi.com/view/s3SyEK2WUzWufAZATyjd/

Starbucks News (The New York Times)

Get a head start on the news while you wait for your coffee

Authors: Miguel Amaya (@TheMiguelAmaya) and Natalie Cardenas (@nataliecard_)

Concept: Many of us make Starbucks one of our first morning stops. It’s the same with The New York Times, which we access early in the morning.

This new product would add NEWS to the choices Starbucks customers make when they visit the coffee maker’s app. So, order your cafe latte and scan the headlines. A perfect combination to start the day!

Take a look:

PROJECT

Society of News Design New York: Celebrating 40 years

The Society for News Design’s 40th Anniversary Workshop, Creative Conference and Awards Gala will be in New York City, March 22–24.

Workshop chair Tyson Evans, of The New York Times, and an army of volunteers are organizing three packed days of talks, training, networking and inspiration about the future (and past) of storytelling, visual journalism and news products across print and digital.

Speakers announced so far include Scott Stowell, proprietor of Open and winner of the National Design Award for Communication Design; Jennifer Daniel, of Google; John Maeda, of Automattic and visual journalists from The New York Times, Washington Post, Axios, Vice, ProPublica and more.

I am honored to be one of the speakers.

If you would like to attend what promises to be one of the best SND gatherings ever, please go here for more information:

https://nyc.snd.org