Getting started with user needs: lessons from Ringer Media International

Last year, Ringer Media International brought in Dmitry Shishkin - pioneer of the user needs model - as a new CEO to grow its non-Swiss titles through his ground-breaking strategy.

Most recent iteration of Shishkin's user needs model has eight needs — update me, educate me, give me perspective, divert me, inspire me, help me, connect me, and keep me engaged — but many newsrooms have adapted and slimmed that model based on their missions and audiences.

User needs help newsrooms reprioritise what content they publish to better meet the needs of their audience. Doing so helps combat news avoidance and foster news engagement.

Newsrooms often find they overpublish on one user need (update me), and leave the remaining seven needs underserved, wasting valuable resources.

So how is it going for the Ringer titles since Shishkin joined? Four editors shared their insights.

Pulse Africa: the classic conundrum

The problem: Google Analytics was putting "update me" stories among the highest page-view articles, and journalists have come to rely on these simple and quick-hit stories. On closer inspection, they typically have low engagement.

The hunch: Audiences want something deeper. "Educate me" stories also have quite high page views but are not published with the same regularity as "Update me" stories.

The test: Initial experiments with the "Educate me" stories showed that they often lend themselves to lifestyle content, but are more time-consuming to produce. As a result, editorial output was reduced by 14 per cent, but traffic to the lifestyle section grew by two thirds during the six-month test period.

Ringer Media International

Pulse Africa also tested out "Educate me" stories for social media.

A video on laws that Nigerians would fall victim to in other countries did well: 491k views, 18k likes, 900 comments, 5k shares and 2.4k saves (accurate at the time of interviewing).

Another video on the tribe where men and women speak different languages also picked up good traction: 449k views, 21k likes, 1.4k comments, 6k shares, 1.9 saves (also at the time of the interview).

The challenge: Getting journalists to stick with proper tagging of user needs before publishing. Automation can help and AI is also being looked at for idea and topic generation.

The learning: "At first, it was a bit tricky to get everyone on board, as journalists are naturally strong-minded. So, we involved them right from the start — offering hands-on training and showing real-time data that highlighted how their work could connect with a wider audience. This approach helped everyone see the benefits firsthand," says director of content growth, Kanyinsola Aroyewun.

"Focus on training your team and be open about the benefits — it really makes a difference. Lean into data-driven strategies, but stay flexible and ready to adapt. Remember to follow up regularly, as it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks. Put up user needs posters in the newsroom as constant reminders and encourage your team. Guide them along the way so they can pick up the new approach quickly and confidently."

Blic.rs in Serbia: doom and gloom headlines a turn-off

The problem: Blic.rs in Serbia has a category of news called "Slobodno vreme" which translates to "free time" - as in news to consume in your downtime. These have long sought to give audiences "inspire me" stories, but this user need was consistently underperforming.

The hunch: The headlines were too negative and were turning readers away. There is more evidence for this, as four in five poorly performing "Give me perspective" stories within this category also had words with negative connotations in the headlines.

Ringer Media International

The decision: The team brightened up the headlines and produced more positive "inspire me" stories. After about two weeks, the average article reads in this category were up by as much as 266 per cent.

The learning: "The biggest impact was made when the Blic.rs editorial recognised that we were already doing something like user needs and that we could relatively easily expand our existing workflow to make it more efficient," says audience development manager Nikolina Govoruša.

Blikk in Hungary: audiences hungry for deeper political news

The assumption: Blikk had to cover every cough and spit of news, even when the editorial team knew it was of lesser value, just to get traffic coming. Or just because that is the status quo.

The realisation: It is not necessary to cover everything, but to examine what audiences truly need. During a big political year for Hungary (and the potential for fake and misleading content), audiences needed other types of (potentially more engaging) political coverage. And the news brand itself stood to gain a lot of trust by changing tactics.

The decision: A larger emphasis on analytical and explanatory articles and videos, which met other needs than the classic update me. It was encouraged by the strong performance of non-update me stories.

Ringer Media International

The learning: "You should never give up at the first minor or even major problem you encounter when trying out a new system. The desired effects are not immediate, nor will it happen in the short term that everyone in the editorial office will think the same way about a new system," says head of audience, Péter Bokor.

Beobachter in Switzerland: tethering mission to user needs

NB: Beobachter is part of Ringier Media Switzerland. It has been working with user needs ever since Shishkin consulted with them prior to becoming CEO of Ringier Media International, which does not include Beobachter.

The opportunity: Beobachter already had a pretty clear mission based on established reader needs, such as "Expose wrongdoings," "Provide context," "Touch and entertain me," "Inspire me," "Address it," "Help me," and "Explain it to me." Some of these are already defined with the user needs model, but others veer towards 'brand specific user needs', which the model allows for within broader user needs.

Ringer Media International

The user needs model provides a framework to make these users needs more formal, something which can be tracked through analytics as well as subscription conversions.

The outcome: Three top converting user needs after twelve months emerged as "Expose wrongdoings," "Touch and entertain me," and "Help me."

The learning: "Experiment with the user needs. Get a feeling of your own product through that and then be ambitious to find the user needs which really fit your product" says editor-in-chief Dominique Strebel.

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