MSNBC’s Big Picture Michael Silberman Deputy Editor, East Coast

Why Big Picture? Immersive, narrative-based, interactive story- telling Engage the user Create new story-telling forms Encourage internal creative thinking An evolution from earlier narrative forms

Key Attributes Control Depth Introspection/Interaction Community Comprehension

Control Clear, exposed navigation divides the content into smaller topics Viewers can skip to portions of interest and/or replay parts Tips Use as a standard feature of any interactive story Try text that looks clickable (underlined) Add recognizable visual cues; some people remember icons or images better than words Examples Big Picture left-side rundown: Driving vacations: Darkest Day:

Depth Saves presentation space Puts context directly where it is most relevant Tips Opt-out – where the presentation stops until the user makes a choice Exposes additional information Disrupts story line Opt-in – asking follow-up questions or pausing to launch a slideshow Provides a smooth transition to more information Easily missed Supplemental – such as factoids appearing in sequence with video Provides clarification Can be distracting Examples: Big Picture: Driving vacations:

Introspection Directly challenge the audience to think about an issue Voting/polling prompts people to express themselves Tips Placement driven by purpose Consider the facts first? Put it at the end. Disprove the viewer’s notions? Put it at the beginning. Taking the audience’s pulse? It becomes the segment. Dissect an issue into many smaller points requiring ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘unsure’ Broad vote topics elicit more gut reaction Decide whether to show the results before, during or after a vote Consider the impact results will have on the viewer Examples Big Picture: Iraq Big Picture: Election

Community Connects viewers with the story Audience is part of the presentation by leaving their mark or interacting with each other Tips Include a ‘write-us’ and ‘ this’ button somewhere that’s clearly visible during the entire presentation Read viewer Consider soliciting viewer opinions and then using them in the piece Examples Big Picture: Iraq StrikeOut!

Comprehension The active, involved viewer is more likely to retain information than the passive viewer Active = listening, reading and making connections Tips With complicated issues, emphasize key phrases with text in synch with audio Add third-party analysis where appropriate to give the viewer perspective Break up audio tracks with short pauses, sound bites or sound effects Ask viewers to perform tasks that teach Examples Enron 101: Conflict with Iraq: Baggage screener:

Our Latest Effort – Oscars v2 Intro on the launch page Multiple entry points Larger window size Re-order playlist Related info box (persistent vs. transient) Hide option Eliminated “save for later”

User Engagement – time spent

User Engagement: segments viewed 48% stayed through the ad

User Engagement: time in segment

Entry points 52% 11% 29% 8%

% 10% 11% 20% 9% 8% 4% 5% 11% Segment popularity Popularity Interaction

Used playlist: 52% Changed order: 15% Sent comment: < 1% Used related info: 14% Used hide for guide: 24%

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