MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW
Interactive Storytelling
I got the opportunity to collaborate with Karen Hao, a leading senior editor in Artificial Intelligence, to create a new format for digital storytelling that brought life to her research through animations and scrollable interactions.
MOBILE DESIGN
MOTION & ANIMATION
WEB DESIGN
CHALLENGE
When journalists at MIT Technology Review saw the changes I was making to the lists and story pages, they were excited about the range of possibilities that digital storytelling could bring to their work. I collaborated with Karen Hao, a leading senior editor in Artificial Intelligence, to innovate on how we might showcase her upcoming story about how big tech funds global misinformation.
SOLUTION
Karen and I worked closely to determine the elements of the story that she wanted to emphasize as well as to design the asset animations. I then collaborated with Andre Vitorio, a talented web engineer, to bring that story to life through timed, scrollable interactions. This story became one of the most-viewed stories on the MIT Technology Review website that year.
Plotting & Planning
To make sure that the images, content, and animations were timed appropriately with the narrative of the story, I created a detailed storyboard that laid out the various screens, text, and corresponding timing. This document proved useful not only for the back-and-forth discussions with Karen and ensuring the layout captured her vision for the piece, but also for the build phase with Andre, the web engineer, in detailing the specifications for the interactions and animations.
Final Visual Design
The final design was published on November 20, 2021 and became MIT Technology Review's most-viewed story of the year.
Lessons Learned
1.
Expect the Unexpected
Journalism, am I right? A flurry of last-minute edits meant we were changing and updating the animations down to the last second. We planned for hiccups which helped make sure we met the launch deadline despite the fast-paced, ever-editing nature of journalism.
2.
Flexibility
The web engineer I was working with on this project was international, and it became difficult to find times to meet that worked for us both. Adapting to his timezone when necessary ensured that questions got answered, blockers were addressed, and major milestones were accomplished on schedule to meet the set deadline.