A new mobile experience for business news.
UX Lead
Business News
Mobile App
UX Lead
Product Design
Engagement
2019–2021
Outcome
From a legacy news app to a focused mobile experience that doubled revenue in its first year.
+100%
The challenge
The Handelsblatt app needed more than a visual refresh. The existing product was redesigned from the ground up, both technologically and experientially, using native iOS and Android technology to create a modern, cloud-ready mobile platform.
The challenge was to translate a complex business news ecosystem into a focused mobile experience. A new information architecture was needed to establish the news stream as a central entry point while making additional formats such as My News, podcasts, videos and stories easy to discover. At the same time, the experience had to support premium journalism through clear content labelling and paywalls that led users towards a subscription.
The goal was to keep the interface clean and content-focused, with short and intuitive paths through the product. We introduced a shared vision process before detailed design began, using Design Thinking and collaborative workshops to involve stakeholders early and create alignment around the future direction of the product.
How might we turn the depth of a business newspaper into a focused mobile experience built for discovery, engagement and subscription?
Context
Users
- Business news readers
- Professionals and executives
- Subscribers and potential subscribers
- Mobile readers across different reading situations
Complexity
- Large editorial content ecosystem
- Multiple content formats
- Premium and paywall logic
- Editorial stakeholder alignment
- Native iOS and Android platforms
My role
- UX/UI Lead
- Product vision and Design Thinking process
- Workshop facilitation and stakeholder alignment
- Information architecture
- Mobile interaction design
- Prototype validation
Approach
Understand
- Research
- Workflows
- User Needs
Structure
- Information Architecture
- User Flows
- Product Concepts
Design
- Wireframes
- High-Fidelity UI
- Design System
Validate
- Interactive Prototypes
- Feedback
- Iteration
Deliver
- Developer Handoff
- Design QA
- Release Support
Key design decisions
Make the news stream the centre of the experience
A traditional newspaper structure does not automatically translate to mobile, where users expect quick access to the most relevant content.
We made a prioritised news stream the primary entry point and used the tab bar to give direct access to distinct content and engagement features such as My News, podcasts, videos and stories.
The app gained a clearer information hierarchy while allowing users to discover more content without navigating through a complex newspaper structure.
Design premium content as part of the reading journey
Premium journalism needs to convert readers into subscribers without disrupting the reading experience.
We made premium content and subscription paths visible within the product journey, using clear premium labelling and paywalls that connected high-value content with the subscription model.
Monetisation became an integrated part of the reading experience rather than a separate sales destination.
Product experience
Results
1.5M
+100%
4.7
Reflection
One of the biggest challenges was not designing the interface itself, but creating alignment around what the future mobile experience should prioritise.
The newsroom and other stakeholders were deeply involved in the product, and many ideas were valuable but also controversial. To create a shared direction early, we introduced a vision process based on Design Thinking and collaborative workshops. This allowed stakeholders to contribute to the product direction before individual solutions and interfaces were discussed.
I learned that UX leadership in a complex product is not only about making good design decisions. It is also about creating a shared framework that helps different stakeholders move from individual opinions towards a clear product vision.