Mark Briggs

By: Chris Mars

Mark Briggs has a mission to help journalists adapt to new media and puts a focal point on what the viewer wants out of media. In one of his blog posts, Briggs reflects on how a news media organization should focus on creating an 'insanely great' news web site to attract new revenue.

As we see a growing trend in news companies using sites like twitter to reach readers it becomes apparent that the content in Briggs' blog is useful. He reflects on Bernard Lunn's scorecard, called "Six Milestones from 30 Seconds to 3 Years."

These milestones can measure the growth of the web site and set goals to keep customers or viewers coming back to reuse services. Put yourself in the reader's shoes, what would you want out of a news media website? Here is what you would want the reader to say...

30 seconds: “I get it.”
3 minutes: “I’ve used it and still get it, and it has not annoyed me yet.”
3 days: “I find this really useful or fun.”
3 weeks: “I am raving about this to other people.”
3 months: “I couldn’t imagine not having this, and I’m boring my friends telling them about it.”
3 years: “How weird to see this on Oprah.”

The functionality of these milestones can bring a sense of direction back in this fast paced, whirlwind media. Its easy to get caught up in the endless possibilities on the web but these milestones serve as a guideline to building a functional service for users.

With the competition lurking just a click away, focusing on what the user wants has become the key issue in building an 'insanely great' news web site.