Top Story Block 3.0
When I joined the SmartNews US team, one of the biggest complaints we heard from users was: “I open the app and only see celebrity gossip or sports. Where are the real top stories?” In the U.S. market, people don’t trust a single news source to give them the full picture. They jump between CNN, Bloomberg, Fox, or the Guardian to get a sense of balance. SmartNews wanted to solve this by making our Top Story Block (TSB 3.0) the place where users could instantly catch up on what mattered right now.
My Role
As the Lead Designer, I worked with PMs, engineers, and data scientists to rethink the Top Stories Block, the first thing users see on the home page. The team debated whether it should “go deep” with one detailed story or “go wide” with multiple quick headlines. User research showed that people wanted a broad view, so I designed a simplified layout that removed thumbnails and emphasized concise, scannable headlines from diverse media outlets. This balance allowed users to quickly grasp what was happening now while preserving space for personalized content, ultimately strengthening both trust and engagement.
Impact
Users loved it:
- “Very useful. I get different takes from different outlets.”
- “I like having all my news in one place.”
- “It feels like all the apps in one app.”
On the metrics side:
- For new users: pageviews grew +10%, total sessions +3%, time spent +6%.
- For existing users: session counts stayed stable, even as we shifted space to highlight top stories.
Most importantly, it reframed SmartNews as a place to catch up on must-know news, not just a feed of personalized stories.
What I Learned
This project taught me that good design is about balance. Users say they want diversity and balance, but in practice they still gravitate toward their personalized comfort zone. My job was to respect that behavior while gently guiding them to explore broader perspectives.
In One Sentence
Top Stories Block 3.0 proved that design can both hit business KPIs and reshape how users see the product.