Spotlight: News for Gen Z and Millennials by Nicole SantanaSpotlight: News for Gen Z and Millennials by Nicole Santana

nicole santana

designing a news discovery ecosystem

Watch for a video walk-through of the designs!

Role:

UI Design, UX Research

Timeline:

1 week

Goal:

Create a news app that rebuilds trust with Gen Z and Millennials

Restraints:

Not traditional media but the feel of a consumer product

Gathering Insights

To design an effective news app for Gen Z and Millennials, I conducted research into existing news platform and consumption habits by the target users. In analyzing competitor apps, user reviews, and through digital consumption studies, I identified three key pain points:1. Content fragmentation across multiple platforms2. Perceived media bias limiting users' perspectives3. Misinformation concerns which led to trust issuesThis research guided my design principles, focusing on creating a solution that provided diverse content formats, transparent bias indicators, and fact-verification features within one platform.

Understanding the User

Based on my research, two user personas were created with distinct news consumption behaviors:Melanie: primarily uses social platforms for digestible news and shares her political viewsJohn: professional who follows specific content creators and values efficient, analytical news coverageThese personas guided my feature prioritization and information architecture, as shown in the sitemap that integrates familiar social media flows with news delivery.

Design Solution

The Community Page integrates social elements with news consumption, featuring format-flexible posts from followed accounts and joined groups. The accessible group shortcuts maintain connection to specific interest communities.

The Discussion Page facilitates meaningful conversation around news topics—addressing the research insight that younger audiences want to share opinions and engage in discourse. The consistent layout helps users navigate between discovery and focused discussion.

Key Takeaways

In this project, I discovered the balance between social engagement and credible news delivery. Designing for fragmented media consumption required clear information hierarchies while maintaining an approachable interface. The challenge of rebuilding trust pushed me to implement transparency tools and authenticity, and reinforced how thoughtful UX decisions can bridge traditional journalism with modern media.