Since its initial brief, the challenge for The Economist’s web app (https://app.economist.com) was to present the same slick interface as the newspaper’s existing iOS and Android apps, using just web technologies. As the project matured and we began to support a wider variety of device sizes and capabilities, we realised we were making significant compromises to the quality of the presentation, and indeed the legibility of the text. For a news publication with a loyal user-base and strong visual identity, this was not great.
With the application of a series of clever algorithms, a move to a constraint-based layout system, and a more mature relationship between the design, editorial and development teams, we were able to make drastic improvements to the layout and typography of the article view, and thus the immersive, tailor-made experience for the user.
Slide notes:
1. I’m a front-end engineer at the Financial Times. Going to be talking about a scheme of work I did earlier in the year which greatly improved the reading experience for one of our products
2. Spend most of my time working on the FT web app
3. Until recently, also the lead developer of the Economist’s web app
which launched four years ago.
4. https://www.dropbox.com/s/deiv9xv33melntf/Economist%20app%20demo.mov?dl=0. Working on the two projects side-by side allowed cross-pollination of ideas and technologies
5. At the FT, we've thought hard about what exactly an app is, and how that ap...
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