Objective

We know from previous election cycles data that there is a large amount of anonymous users that visit our site at this time. We’ve also gathered from Next Gen research that users desire and need new and unique experiences that are mobile first, support discovery and engagement, and enables the quickest possible intake of key contact. Insights include:

• Accessibility
  
  Users would benefit from easily accessible data, especially for new users who are not familiar with the sites layout.
  

• Clarity and brevity
  
  Clear data visualizations that quickly give users the information they’re looking for can lead to higher engagement.

• Mobile first
  
  During previous elections seasons, most anonymous entered the site on mobile devices from Google searches or social media post.
  

• Call-to-action
  
  While users benefit from bite sized, clear and concise information, done the right way, they may be enticed to continue to do a deeper dive into eletions content. Thus, wayfinding is an important consideration.

• As a non-subscriber visiting The Washington Post during election season, I want to easily find information about ongoing races so that I can stay informed about the political landscape.

• As a user coming from social media or Google searches, I want the elections information to be presented in a bitesized format so that I can quickly grasp the key points without feeling overwhelmed.

• As a user interested in elections coverage, I want the information to be clear and concise so that I can easily understand the latest developments without having to spend too much time reading.

• As a non-subscriber exploring The Washington Post's website during election season, I want to easily navigate to the elections module or pages so that I can access the relevant information without getting lost in the site's layout.

• As a user looking for comprehensive elections reporting, I want the bitesized information to serve as a gateway to more in-depth coverage, allowing me to dive deeper into topics of interest at my own pace.

• As a non-subscriber visiting The Washington Post's website during election season, I want the elections information to be prominently featured, making it easy for me to access without having to search extensively.

Do to the fast-paced climate of election season, we decided to quickly conduct a brief survey to gauge users response to the multiple types of content we considered (see below).

After honing in on the strongest candidate, we continued to live test the module on multiple surfaces on the site to determine if our hypothesis were correct. We placed the module on the homepage, Midterm Elections 2022 section front, related article pages, Live Updating Files (LUF) articles, newsletters and in print.

We monitored users engagement with the module throughout these surfaces, and concluded the elections season elevating how the module performed. We used this data to determine what we can to different during coming elections.

1. Page views/sessions on election related pages

2. Time on page on election related pages

3. Bounce rate from election related pages

4. CTR to expansive elections content from module

5. Social shares

From this experiment, we gauged that anonymous users benefitted greatly from this module through its high engagement and click-through to more elections coverage. I continued to monitor competitors during the election season and what new tools they implemented to reach a similar audience.

As we continue to gear up for future election seasons, I want to continue to research and test how we can lead more anonymous users to convert to subscribers during the election season as the traffic to the site rises significantly during this time.