DAILYpigeon is a user-centric mobile-first experience that increases trust and credibility in election content for readers. This project was created as an entry for The New York Times x Adobe Creative Jam in September 2021. This was a fast-paced (one week) collaborative project. Cheryl Vo and I worked together to create the brand guidelines, illustrations, and mobile prototype for this product.
This project allows our team to work together within a fast-paced environment. Within the deadline, we wanted to create a working prototype of this product by combining our vision and research. It is important for both of us, as non-US citizens, to be precise with our sources while researching US politics, and we wanted to create a platfrom that will allow our users to easily do the same thing.
Inspired by the carrier pigeon and the pigeons in New York City, we wanted to use the pigeon as our mascot. Key visuals include this pigeon doing daily tasks: reading the newspaper, discussing election topics with its peers, watching election news on TV, running to voting sites, etc. We wanted to keep the brand colorful and youthful in contrast to the usual minimalistic design choices in political publications.
Since the majority of US citizens get news from digital platforms, the need for credible sources of information is increasing. During election times, it is crucial that voters do not get their news from sites with media bias or false information. Therefore, we wanted to make sure that our product is used as a tool for users to find credible sources. UX research is extremely important in our process, as we need to provide our users with an environment which they find reliable. We need our audience to know that we are not trying to sell them anything, or to force our beliefs onto them; we are simply an asset that they can use to make their own educated decision.
Within our product, we wanted to implement a badges system indicating credible, verified authors and sources. Article authors have “verified” and “credible” badges that link users to their credentials and related articles. Articles have “verified” and “peer-reviewed” badges that link users to their cited sources and respective authors. Beside their function, these badges also provide the mobile product with a more relaxing environment for users to feel safe and comfortable.
Illustrations: Han Khuong, Cheryl Vo
UX Research & Design: Han Khuong
UI Design: Han Khuong
QR Code & Candidate Screens: Cheryl Vo
Home & Articles Screens: Han Khuong