WSJ hopes to spur innovation

Joseph Lichterman of Nieman Journalism Lab writes about the strategy at the Wall Street Journal to boost innovation with its products.

Lichterman writes, “But beyond new apps and redesigned websites, the Journal is integrating its product team into the newsroom and Dow Jones, the Journal’s parent, has created an innovation group, led by Roussel, who now has the title of Dow Jones’ chief innovation officer. ‘Until a year or so ago, the cadence wasn’t swift enough, and that’s what we’re seeking to put right,’ he said. Processes that took months last year when the Journal was creating the first responsive part of its site, WSJD, now take weeks to accomplish, he said.

“The Journal’s product team will become part of the newsroom and designers will also sit among other editorial staffers. Through the recent redesign processes, the Journal has introduced an agile approach that emphasizes quick development cycles. The paper hopes that by moving the staffs together and onto one larger team it can reduce friction and encourage collaboration, Journal executive editor Almar Latour said.

“‘We think that this moment is really probably as significant, if not more so, than when our digital team moved into what was then the print newsroom,’ Latour said. ‘Right now, this is a new milestone for us. The editors themselves, the editors for web and mobile will play a leading role in shaping and creating future product.’

“The Journal is only the latest of a number of newspapers who have taken steps to better integrate their newsrooms and development teams. By the end of the year there, for example, there will be 47 engineers working in The Washington Post newsroom, Post editor Marty Baron said in a speech he gave earlier this month.”

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