Story Optimizations

One of the primary missions of the Storytelling Studio is to find new ways to tell stories and tweak the existing ways to be more successful. To help find more readers who read longer and are more invested in the stories we tell.

We've experiemented, collected loads of data and developed some evidence-based ideas about what works well. Communicating these ideas, though, can be tricky and empowering story producers with our latest findings is even trickier.

We're introducing these (and future) findings into an optimization framework: a set of In-Depth analysis tools that put as much useful information as possible at your finger tips in ways that you can easily act upon it. Thus, these tips are ever evolving with input from you and others. Most importantly, they're relevant to the story on which you are working on right now.

More inclusive experiences

We all read differently, and appreciate different narrative formats. Creating story experiences that include needs and preferences of all types invites more people into our Network's journalism.

People who enjoy our work become subscribers.

Phones: We all use them and optimizations are tuned to this reality

You're probably reading this page on a large screen (your desktop monitor or laptop). A typical USA TODAY NETWORK reader would not. Phones account for more than half of all traffic, and that figure is growing. Every decision we make and feature we add to a story should enhance the experience for the largest quantity of readers possible. That means ensuring excellent mobile experiences. Story optimizations are tuned to this reality.

Skimmers, swimmers and divers

Some people read every word of a story, from the first headline to the final credit at the end. Others skip around. Some just look at the pictures.

We often think about three main kinds of readers:

• Skimmers: Who will speed read a story, taking in mostly pictures and chapter subheadlines. They will skim a story.
• Swimmer: These people will follow some sections closely and perhaps skip over others.
• Divers: These readers will hang on every word and take in every last detail offered. They will take a deep dive.

All of these types of readers deserve enriching experiences. A skimmer might who enjoys a story might revisit it as a diver. Any one of them could become a paying subscriber.

There is plenty of research that shows articles structured with several "guideposts" throughout — such as chapter headlines and large, visual elements — are good for skimmers.

How optimizations work

When you load a story in the In-Depth Editor, a series of checks are run. Everything from headline lengths to color choices are examined and compared against a collection of our recommendations and best practices. Any place we think we can offer helpful advice to improve the reader experience or story performance, we'll let you know.

Alerts are collected in a tray, and displayed by clicking on the notification icon in the top-right of the story preview paen. Optimization checks are run each time you refresh the story.

There are three levels of alerts:

Warning	Caution	Informative
This might be a big problem and really should be addressed.	This might be okay, but there are ways to make it better.	This probably is fine, but here is something you might find interesting.

What is measured

Toppers

The topper is the first impression. If it is poorly constructed with too much or illegible text, it will be the only impression a reader gets.

Too much text — especially on mobile screens — is the No. 1 reason readers bounce from stories. Search optimization is another consideration

Colors

Text must be readable to everybody, especially even people with less-than-ideal eyesight. Words that are too small, or too similar to their background color aren't always legible. The prevailing standards for readable text are defined in the global Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. We use them to evaluate story designs. Text that is too small, or too light, for example, is considered unreadable.

Three of the most important choices an In-Depth producer can make are selecting a light or dark theme, a theme color and a page background color. Text color must have enough contrast with its background. The optimization framework will flag any color pairings that needs more contrast to comply with WCAG guidelines.

Story outline

Remember skimmers? We think the USA TODAY Network has a lot of those folks as readers. The optimization framework looks for long stories to be broken up into smaller, more digestible chunks.

These are suggestions

“But this story is different. This doesn't apply ...”

You might be right.

Bottom line: You always can publish a story as you (and your editors and collaborators) see fit. Nothing here will prevent that. These are just suggestions, based on our experience publishing news articles across the entire USA TODAY Network. But please consider the feedback we're offering.

We've provided broader rationales as suggestions to aid in your conversations with editorial staff members.

What's next

We're always tinkering with the optimization checks and improving them. Look for updates to story scannability and more granular analysis around colors.

Questions? We invite your feedback regarding optimizations.