Studio Brief 02 - Identifying the problem of digital magazines

https://blog.yudu.com/2014/05/14/3-common-problems-digital-magazine-publishers-encounter/

In this article, the advantage of the screen  is acknowledged in providing new ways to display editorial content. However there must be a level of restraint in how much these publishers should use these advantages. If used too much, the overall publication becomes over-saturated with rich-media content. This causes problems on the level of performance on the platform as more videos and gifs would increase the amount of data needed to be loaded, increasing the capacity requirements from devices that may have small storage capacities. Furthermore it draws attention away with print content and confuses the reader. Therefore rather than over saturating the digital magazine with these features in effort to 'wow' the user, these features should be placed where necessary and not for the sake of it. 

The article also suggests that the printed magazines content should not be entirely converted to screen. Instead, publishers should selectively choose which aspects of the magazine to showcase online. This will help potential readers decide on buying the magazine. Furthermore, a digital magazine often costs a lot less than the printed version, and thinking monetarily, the publishers would prefer if people bought their physical copy to stay in business. Therefore rather than trying to create a platform where readers can view entire on screen magazines, it should rather be a preview feature that helps promote it. 

https://www.wired.com/insights/2014/10/are-digital-magazines-dead/

In this article, WIRED discusses the background of the digital magazine industry and the possible direction of its future. Digital magazines have only been in circulation for around 6 years and is seeing a slow rise in its subscriber base with more people adopting tablets. The important point to take away from the article is the authors acknowledgement that digital magazines have an opportunity to push how readers view editorial content. Digital magazines provide a unique experience in an age where information flows quickly and readers jump around between content. They have the opportunity to captivate audiences in ways that many cannot.

https://gigaom.com/2013/10/06/tablet-magazines-failure/

An article by Gigaom raises some interesting points on why a app based solution to digital magazines ultimately leads to failure. Firstly is how much the user actually frequents their apps. To quote Gigaom, "the average user only opens eight apps a day with the most popular being Facebook, YouTube and game apps. And according to a 2012 report from Localytics, 22 percent of all apps are only opened once." Therefore even if there was an app for these digital magazines, it will need devoted subscribers to avoid the app being discarded. 

Having an app also limits the accessibility of the magazine as well. By not being on the web, it doesn't allow for the articles to be indexed or searched. This cuts out a potentially huge audience that could have been looking through the magazine, increasing its reader base. Furthermore it doesn't encourage users to share the articles on social media, preventing websites like Flipboard and the like from sharing it and increasing the magazine's exposure.

Therefore given the user habits and limitations of app design, a app based solution to the brief may not be the most realistic and effective way of drawing readers towards on screen editorial content. Furthermore by on creating an app, it limits the exposure of these magazines. A good number of users may have a tablet to view the app but almost everyone has a computer and or a smartphone which is where the full potential of the solution can be taken. 

http://www.pubexec.com/article/8-lessons-from-failure-digital-magazines-revolutionize-publishing/

This article identifies the problem with digital editorial content and user habits that dictate the future of this platform. The key points were that digital media have short half lives, how smartphones are continuing to dominate the mobile market, how people can discover the magazine and why a magazines tactility is its most important aspect. In the same way that users tend to only use eight apps a day as stated in Gigaoms article, the tablet has gone from a must have when it first came out to something of a luxury. This means tablets are not a primary way of users viewing digital content. The smartphone does compromise on its screen size but because of a necessity to have a phone, smartphones are becoming a increasing way in which more of the overall population access the internet. The tactility of the physical copy also plays a role in the demise of digital content. Not only is the reader able to feel the magazine but it can act as a statement, "the printed edition can also entertain visitors, decorate a coffee table, or display’s the owner’s taste or passion. It is an object that can be clipped, shared, or collected."