The Times and The Sunday Times have launched their highly anticipated new websites. Available now at www.thetimes.co.uk and www.sundaytimes.co.uk the new sites are the first major UK consumer newspapers to launch subscription-only websites.
These sites are a bold step forward for the online newspaper, delivering sophisticated and innovative online expressions of two historic brands. The aim of delivering the best experience possible for this new generation of site has been met across the board.
The original brief was extremely challenging: reassert the value of journalism by creating sites that consumers will pay for and delivering them in a way that makes that premium experience simple and compelling. Our work with News International started with core service strategy and consumer research, continuing with the Times and Sunday Times teams on user experience design and consumer insight and co-creation activities.
Everyone in the industry is watching to see how successful this venture is: the reality is that few stand a chance of survival without an effective paid content model in place.
From the outset, we felt strongly that better and unique were the two essential characteristics to a paid model. The Times and Sunday Times teams have done a fantastic job delivering an outstanding experience that has both of these qualities in abundance and we believe these sites are worthy champions for the future of journalism on the web.
Mark Wilson, Director at Wilson Fletcher:
"This is the kind of challenge we thrive on, and it was a genuine pleasure to be involved with the teams at The Times and Sunday Times throughout this process. There are no bigger brands in journalism, and the bravery required to be the first to face this challenge head-on should not be underestimated. We're really proud to have played our part in bringing these sites to market."
Tristan Davies, editor of Sunday Times online:
"The creation of a standalone website for The Sunday Times was a significant challenge for both News International and Wilson Fletcher, who were involved with the project right from the outset. The brief was to create a completely new template for newspaper websites, offering more than the traditional news-dominated article list approach and a unique browsing experience that reflects the breadth of coverage of Britain's biggest and best-selling multi-sectioned quality broadsheet. At the same time, this new site had to be compatible in terms of search, navigation and user experience with The Times' new website, and carry with it those users who had become used to finding both titles on the old timesonline.co.uk site.
Wilson Fletcher rose magnificently to these challenges, and helped the Sunday Times create a strongly visual style, where the experience of browsing and selecting is as pleasurable as the consumption of the content itself. Wilson Fletcher were instrumental in creating a whole new dimension to reading and viewing newspaper content online. They fully understood the journalistic requirements of The Sunday Times, while bringing to the table their extensive experience of creating websites and working with users, allowing us to far exceed our expectations and ambitions. Their working methods allowed us to create a site where readers and users played an active and essential role in shaping the site from its design, to its functionality, content and architecture.''