MSNBC’s Big Picture

1. MSNBC’s Big Picture Michael SilbermanDeputy Editor, East Coast

2. Why Big Picture? • Immersive, narrative-based, interactive story-telling • Engage the user • Create new story-telling forms • Encourage internal creative thinking • An evolution from earlier narrative forms

3. Key Attributes • Control • Depth • Introspection/Interaction • Community • Comprehension

4. Control • Clear, exposed navigation divides the content into smaller topics • Viewers can skip to portions of interest and/or replay parts • Tips • Use as a standard feature of any interactive story • Try text that looks clickable (underlined) • Add recognizable visual cues; some people remember icons or images better than words • Examples • Big Picture left-side rundown: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/bigpicture/iraq/ • Driving vacations: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/summer_driving/decades/ • Darkest Day: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/wtc_terror_experience/

5. Depth • Saves presentation space • Puts context directly where it is most relevant • Tips • Opt-out – where the presentation stops until the user makes a choice • Exposes additional information • Disrupts story line • Opt-in – asking follow-up questions or pausing to launch a slideshow • Provides a smooth transition to more information • Easily missed • Supplemental– such as factoids appearing in sequence with video • Provides clarification • Can be distracting • Examples: • Big Picture: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/bigpicture/iraq/ • Driving vacations: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/summer_driving/decades/

6. Introspection • Directly challenge the audience to think about an issue • Voting/polling prompts people to express themselves • Tips • Placement driven by purpose • Consider the facts first? Put it at the end. • Disprove the viewer’s notions? Put it at the beginning. • Taking the audience’s pulse? It becomes the segment. • Dissect an issue into many smaller points requiring ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘unsure’ • Broad vote topics elicit more gut reaction • Decide whether to show the results before, during or after a vote • Consider the impact results will have on the viewer • Examples • Big Picture: Iraq http://www.msnbc.com/modules/bigpicture/iraq/ • Big Picture: Election http://www.msnbc.com/modules/bigpicture/elex/

7. Community • Connects viewers with the story • Audience is part of the presentation by leaving their mark or interacting with each other • Tips • Include a ‘write-us’ and ‘e-mail this’ button somewhere that’s clearly visible during the entire presentation • Read viewer e-mail • Consider soliciting viewer opinions and then using them in the piece • Examples • Big Picture: Iraq http://www.msnbc.com/modules/bigpicture/iraq/ • StrikeOut! http://www.msnbc.com/modules/sports/pitchinggame/

8. Comprehension • The active, involved viewer is more likely to retain information than the passive viewer • Active = listening, reading and making connections • Tips • With complicated issues, emphasize key phrases with text in synch with audio • Add third-party analysis where appropriate to give the viewer perspective • Break up audio tracks with short pauses, sound bites or sound effects • Ask viewers to perform tasks that teach • Examples • Enron 101: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/enron/ • Conflict with Iraq: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/iraqmain/ • Baggage screener: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/airport_security/screener/

9. Our Latest Effort – Oscars v2 • Intro on the launch page • Multiple entry points • Larger window size • Re-order playlist • Related info box (persistent vs. transient) • Hide option • Eliminated “save for later”

10. User Engagement – time spent

11. User Engagement: segments viewed 48% stayed through the ad

12. User Engagement: time in segment

13. Entry points 52% 29% 11% 8%

14. Segment popularity Interaction Popularity 1 0% 10% 4 3 11% 20% 2 5 9% 7 8% 6 4% 9 5% 8 11%

15. Used playlist: 52%Changed order: 15% Sentcomment: < 1% Used hidefor guide: 24% Used related info: 14%

16. Try it out yourself • http://bigpicture.msnbc.com