Perhaps it goes without saying that the way news reporting is presented and the ways in which readers consume it has changed drastically in recent years. As newsrooms went digital, their initial efforts mirrored traditional print formats. But something began changing around 2008. I noticed it on Election Day when the New York Times ran an interactive feature called Word Train. It was interactive, engaging, simple, and smart. It was different.

I subsequently included it in my graduate thesis at Carnegie Mellon, arguing that the word train represented a shift in the product of media companies, moving from a focus on disseminating information to being a place of collaborative contribution. In the design world, it represented a shift from static communication to interactive experience. Interactive pieces can not only present new forms of engagement but heighten comprehension and bring about a different level of intimacy with the content. At the same time as the word train, the shape of online front pages began to change, pushing video, interactive maps, charts, and diagrams to the top-of-the-fold.