Projects - Verity Platform

Verity Platform

Transforming Newsroom Analytics

Weekly usage increased from 15% to 80% of journalists

Impact

Role

UX Research, Visual Design, Data Visualisation, Workshop facilitation

Verity is a data platform designed to help newsrooms track and grow content subscriptions. This project focused on revamping Verity 1.0, which despite providing valuable insights it suffered from a spreadsheet like interface and low user engagement.

Role

UX Research, Visual Design, Data Visualisation, Workshop facilitation

Impact

Weekly usage increased from 15% to 80% of journalists

Impact

Weekly usage increased from 15% to 80% of journalists

Role

UX Research, Visual Design, Data Visualisation, Workshop facilitation

The Challenge

Journalists were avoiding a data-rich platform due to its spreadsheet-dominant interface, missing critical audience insights needed for content decisions.

The Solution

Redesigned Verity with role-based dashboards, visual data storytelling, and actionable insights that journalists could immediately apply to their work.

One journalist summed it up bluntly: “Spreadsheets make them cry.” This sentiment revealed a fundamental mismatch between the tool’s design and the needs of its users. While Verity 1.0 offered an abundance of data, meaningful insights were often buried in complex tables. Journalists weren’t looking for more numbers they needed to understand their audience on a human level: who their readers were, and what content truly resonated.

👉 "Spreadsheets make them cry" — a candid feedback from a senior journalist

👉 Data was plentiful but insights were buried in complex tables

👉 Journalists needed to understand their readers qualitatively, not just through numbers

👉 "Spreadsheets make them cry" — a candid feedback from a senior journalist

👉 Data was plentiful but insights were buried in complex tables

👉 Journalists needed to understand their readers qualitatively, not just through numbers

During ideation, we took inspiration from fitness apps that excel at presenting complex health data in accessible and engaging ways. These platforms effectively transform raw numbers into meaningful insights through thoughtful visualisation. Building on this, we designed concepts for snapshot views that would give journalists an immediate understanding of their content performance. Our wireframes prioritised visual storytelling over data dense tables, ensuring key information was digestible at a glance.

👉 Designed snapshot views that provided journalists with immediate understanding of data

👉 Developed wireframes that prioritised visual storytelling over raw data tables

👉 Translated performance metrics into actionable editorial insights and guidance

👉 Designed snapshot views that provided journalists with immediate understanding of data

👉 Developed wireframes that prioritised visual storytelling over raw data tables

👉 Translated performance metrics into actionable editorial insights and guidance

Following implementation, weekly usage of Verity increased dramatically from 15% to 80%. The platform evolved from an underutilised resource to a core newsroom planning tool that actively informed content strategy.

👉 Weekly usage increased from 15% to 80% following implementation

👉 Data-driven decision making embedded in daily workflows

👉 Content engagement metrics showed measurable improvement

We learned that visualisation isn’t just about creating attractive graphics—it’s about making insights actionable within the context of real workflows. The dramatic rise in engagement following the redesign demonstrated that thoughtful UX can do more than improve a product; it can drive meaningful business impact.

👉 Weekly usage increased from 15% to 80% following implementation

👉 Data-driven decision making embedded in daily workflows

👉 Content engagement metrics showed measurable improvement