Paul Cheung, AP's director of interactive and digital news production, describes a story-planning process for digital news that consists of these steps: brainstorm, storyboard, prototype, feedback, iterate and deliver. He created it for Philadelphia NewsTrain Nov. 13-14, 2015. NewsTrain is a training initiative of Associated Press Media Editors. More info: http://bit.ly/NewsTrain

1. DIGITAL STORYTELLING
Paul Cheung
Director of Interactive
and Digital News Production,
The Associated Press
pcheung@ap.org
@pcheung630

2. “As the Web matures,
the devices that
provide access to it
have to evolve
along with it.”

4. DESKTOPS, MOBILE AND SOCIAL
– They are not all the same.
– Users exhibit different behavioral patterns.
– Each device and platform addresses
different needs at different times of the day.
– What works for a user on a desktop does not
work for a smartphone.

5. LEARNING OBJECTIVE
– Use a scalable story-planning process across
all digital platforms from Web to mobile to
social.

6. A QUICK SURVEY
– What is your role in the digital-storytelling
process?
– Tell me about your success stories?
– Tell me about your digital obstacles?

7. THE TYPICAL PLANNING PROCESS
Reporter/
Editor Visuals
Web
dev
Social

8. A FLAWED PROCESS
Reporter/
Editor Visuals
Web
dev
Social

9. A BETTER PROCESS
Brainstorm Storyboard Prototype Feedback Iterate Deliver

10. A BETTER PROCESS
Brainstorm Storyboard Prototype Feedback Iterate Deliver
Brainstorming is not just for generating
story ideas.
– Gets us out of our comfort zones.
– Encourages wild ideas. This often leads to
real innovation in terms of storytelling:
Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality
(AR) / Time-lapse / Before/after images
– http://interactives.ap.org/2015/transgend
er-youth/

11. A BETTER PROCESS
Brainstorm Storyboard Prototype Feedback Iterate Deliver
Storyboarding is a static description of your
narrative arc.
– Divide the story into linear and nonlinear parts.
– Decide the contents of the story among the
media (text, videos, audio, photos, information
graphics, VR).
– Sketch out what the main story will look like
and the elements it will include.
– http://interactives.ap.org/2015/mexico-
disappeared/

12. A BETTER PROCESS
Brainstorm Storyboard Prototype Feedback Iterate Deliver
Prototyping is the visual and physical
representation of how your story will be
presented to the audience.
– Narrative structure
– User Experience (UX) and User Interface
(UI)
– Interactivity
– http://interactives.ap.org/2014/honduras-
soccer/

13. Feedback is the reaction to the presentation
and narrative arc of the story:
– Is your prototype intuitive?
– Will the audience engage with your story
from beginning to end?
– Observe audience behavior: Are they stuck in
a particular section? Is something too boring
or too complex?
– http://interactives.ap.org/2015/trading-pit-
signals/
A BETTER PROCESS
Brainstorm Storyboard Prototype Feedback Iterate Deliver

14. A BETTER PROCESS
Brainstorm Storyboard Prototype Feedback Iterate Deliver
Based on your feedback and
observations, iteration is your second
chance to re-edit the story or to improve
the UI/UX of the story.
http://interactives.ap.org/2015/mh17-
crash/

15. A BETTER PROCESS
Brainstorm Storyboard Prototype Feedback Iterate Deliver
When and how to deliver digital stories:
– Timing
– Platform differentiation
– Print vs. Web vs. mobile vs. social

16. EXAMPLES
http://interactives.ap.org/2015/ap-interactive-guide/

17. Q&A
PAUL CHEUNG | PCHEUNG@AP.ORG | @PCHEUNG630