News you can trust when you need it.


Enter: News Now


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Staying informed has never been easier.


We created the iOS App for News Now because we believe it's high time to transform the way we tell the news. News Now offers a new experience to users that integrates the UX and UI they are used to consuming on their other social media platforms, only News Now offers quick, entertaining and easy to consume news content about the news of today that could affect your tomorrow.



Think about the last time you really enjoyed watching the news. If you’re like us, then the word “news” itself can be scary and induce feelings of anxiety or negativity. With hours of boring dialogue, seemingly constant negativity and anchors that look (and sound) like robots, the structure of broadcast journalism leaves little-to-no room for the true personality of the reporter to shine through, so it’s no wonder why 78.2 million people have cut their cords on television altogether.



Introducting News Now: an industry disruptor consisting of short 60-second news stories that matter to you presented in video format through an easily accessible iOS app. Both bored and frustrated with the way traditional news has always presented, three newsies, Ereina Plunkett, Briana Griffiths, and Mamie Johnson embarked on the path to reinvent the way we tell the news. Thus, in August 2021, News Now was born.

Get a glimpse of NewsNow: Watch our Trailer
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As a platform whose user interface is founded on being different than the typical news consumption methods of our time, News Now prides itself on transforming the way we tell and consume the news by encouraging verified content creators to think outside the box and present just the facts through short, "quick-hit" videos in just 60-seconds or less.

MEET THE TEAM

News Now Creators

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Mamie Johnson

Mamie Johnson serves as the website designer, co-copywriter and co-creative designer for News Now content. Mamie is an Emerging Media Master's candidate and joined the program as a Double Dawg at UGA, while she was pursuing her Bachelors degree in Advertising, with a minor in Spanish. Outside of her studies, Mamie works at NCR Corporation as a content strategist, UX/UI designer and marketing specialist where she created the NCR's Green Room website. Through her work and most specifically, the development of News Now, Mamie hopes to create a message that matters, while delivering an experience the audience won't forget.
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Briana Griffiths

Briana Griffiths is the lead software developer and co-creator of the News Now development strategy. Briana is an Emerging Media Master’s candidate at the University of Georgia. Briana graduated from UGA with a Bachelors degree in Advertising, with a minor in Design and Media. With the development of News Now, she aims to get the younger generation more engaged with staying informed by challenging the traditional news.
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Ereina Plunkett

Ereina Plunkett is an Emerging Media Master’s candidate at the University of Georgia. Ereina graduated from UGA with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, and a minor in Spanish. Immediately after graduating Plunkett secured a job as a multimedia journalist and weather reporter in the news. Jaded by the industry, she came up with the original concept of News Now. Frustrated with how news appealed to audiences Ereina made it her mission to serve as a co-designer and copyrighter for News Now Content. She hopes this project will bridge the gap between young and young at heart to revitalize an industry that seems to be on the decline.
NEWS NOW UX/UI

Unique Features

News Now is distinctly interactive and tailored to each user, in that it offers users the role of a news creator, (once they’ve been vetted through the application process, of course) and/or the role of a news consumer, thus tailoring the custom generated news feed to each user's specific news consumption goals and interests.

With a required application to post content and an imposed age identifier, News Now protects users from false information by only serving them quick, verified content that matters to them.

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Preferences / News Interests

Allowing users to customize their news feed, the preferences page follows very similar UI as TikTok when it custom generates the "For You Page." Say goodbye to boring news and saying hello to the news that matters to you.
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Verified Reporter Application

As a part of our verified vetting process, in order to publish content as a News Now Reporter, you must apply with your credentials and qualifications to tell the news. Upon review and acceptance, you will become "Verified," enabling you to post news content as you wish.
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Application Details

Pictured above is a deeper look at the Application to become a Verified News Reporter on News Now. Serving as our vetting and screening process, this application allows us to ensure all content is valid and backed by qualifications, further maintaining our app's credibiltiy and mission.
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Age Identifier

For the protection of all of our users, we require an age identifier upon account creation. This helps us continue catering to our audience's needs and overall safety.
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Verified News Now Profile

Once you've been approved to share news content, users' profiles will be updated with a verified checkbox to indicate they have been vetted and are qualified to share news content.
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General Feed

Pictured above is the rudimentary wireframe for News Now's general news feed of video content. As is visible, the UI provides our audience with a familier user experience and intuitively scrolls through news content made for you.
ASSIGNMENTS

Emerging Media Projects

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Project Brief

Serving as ongoing organization for our app’s development, the project brief evolved greatly throughout this past semester. The project brief dives deeply into our project’s purpose, goals, challenges, and ongoing even research that aided in News Now’s UX and UI strategy.
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Project Beta

Divided into four development stages, in our Beta, we focused on improving the final functionality of our application. Though the entire semester has followed an iterative approach, the four stages of Beta really helped our team continuously locate and address areas for improved user experience within the interface.
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User Experience Strategy

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User Experience Research Plan

Serving as our foundational strategy for next semester's user testing, the User Experience Research Plan was created to detail out our testing methodology and goals, for us to refer to next semester as we conduct testing.
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User Experience Research Report

Using our foundational strategy for user testing, the News Now team conducted quantitative and qualitative research on voluntary test subjects who tested the UX and UI of our iOS app wireframe for News Now. Upon receiving feedback, we were able to utilize our findings to improve the overall user experience and interface for our future News Now audience.
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Emerging Media Capstone

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Team Portfolios

When we're not coding the next best app, the team behind News Now is still working hard to grow their skillsets. Check out the team's portfolios to see some of the other great work we've accomplished!
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Medium Journal

Learn more about the entire evolution of News Now and the teammates who brought this project to life.
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App Demos: YouTube Playlist

Throughout the course of this semester, we uploaded each iteration of our work and application's UX/UI development to a Youtube playlist. All of our demos and related videos can be found here.
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News Now Poster

Serving as an advertorial display of our iOS App, the NewsNow Poster showcases the News Now mission: to provide real news you can trust when you need it. Strengthened by social proof, we utilized the findings from our User Expereince Research Plan and Testing to add credibility to the poster, as we highlight some quotes from our test subjects, themselves.
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Design System and Style Guide

News Now Design System: Editorial style guide, logo guidelines, UI pattern and component library
HEAR FROM THE TEAM

Hear about our experience:

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