Skimm Journeys
A vision for theSkimm’s next chapter: from a daily newsletter to a personal guide that helps millennial women move through life’s biggest decisions.
The problem
Women are navigating chronic stress, inequity at work, a disproportionate share of the mental load at home, and systemic barriers that hold them back at every turn.
theSkimm had earned their trust by keeping them informed. But staying informed wasn’t the same as getting ahead. We set out to rethink the future of theSkimm: what would it look like to help her act on what she learned?
What we heard
Audience needs from research“I want to be an expert without having to do all the research.”
“I need all my information and tasks in one place so I have one less thing to think about.”
“I want a break, but I don’t want to drop the ball.”
“I want to feel like it’s not too late to make a change in my life.”
“I want a community of people cheering me on who understand what I’m going through.”
“I want to feel like I’m making the best choices for me.”
The bet
Move theSkimm from informing her to partnering with her: helping her act on life’s biggest decisions with the right information, tools, and services.
How we got there
As VP of Design, I partnered with product and engineering leadership to shape the vision, then led a team of two product designers and a brand designer from information architecture through final UI.
Experience principles
Mapping the experience
Information architectureWe started with the information architecture. A daily check-in is the front door. From there she moves between three destinations: Today, for her next steps; Journeys, for her progress and what to start next; and Discover, for topics, products, and services.
Every journey shares the same building blocks: in-app goals, real-world goals, reviews from women who finished it, and groups of people on the same path.
Wireframes
Early structure and layout
Early wireframes gave community its own Discuss tab. In the final design, community lives inside each journey’s Connect tab, alongside women on the same path.
Key decisions
What we designed
A mobile app built around Journeys: guided, personalized paths through life moments, from buying a first home to getting better sleep.
Personalized from the first question
Get better sleep
Inside a journey
Learn, Take steps, Connect, Grow, Recs
Built to bring her back
Measuring success
We tracked every journey against an engagement funnel, with a goal of validating the product with real readers. The work went on to shape theSkimm’s product roadmap for 2024.