How the WSJ thinks about design

Thomas Williams, the vice president of design at The Wall Street Journal, writes about its strategy.

Williams writes, “At WSJ Design, we work extensively on design systems, principles and guidelines that inform our product design and user experience. Each of these are essential to our work, but are often more detailed than what we require on a practical day-to-day level. Therefore we have developed a short and simple guide that serves as a “cheat sheet” for us to easily reference on a daily basis. Further to this, it provides insight into how we think about design as part of Digital Experience & Strategy teams and collaborators.

“Design with what already exists

“Whenever possible, we design with proven elements and components from our design system (repository of components), ensuring consistency and efficiency.

“Design with context for the platform

“We embrace native patterns and technologies, ensuring that the experiences we design are always appropriate for the platform (wsj.com, WSJ apps, etc.).”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.