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Reflecting on Defining Rich Media Publishing Tools

The creation of the StoryMaker platform was one of the most challenging and rewarding projects I’ve worked on. The range of tasks from creating an identity and website, building a complete rich-media content management platform from an idea, and helping top-tier media companies publish award-winning experiences shaped many of the projects I’ve been fortunate to work on since.

 

During the six years of growing the metaStories business and evolving the StoryMaker platform, our team of designers, producers, and developers helped world-class brands create innovative rich-media experiences that reached millions of people worldwide. We built a product and business model that led to acquisition by Brightcove to expand their growing rich media, internet, and TV publishing capabilities. 

 

In growing the business and working with product and creative teams at Microsoft, Yahoo, Discovery, and National Geographic, our metaStories team was on the cutting edge of rich-media storytelling which continues to have an influence on design and publishing many years later. 

Discovery Communications Built with StoryMaker

When Discovery Communications reduced their design team, VP/Creative Director Rob Covey turned to the StoryMaker platform for the daily production of all Discovery Flash websites and interactive content. I worked with Covey and his design team to transform their innovations into custom and reusable templates for branded microsites, sponsored content interactives, and interactive TV experiences which included the Discovery Pro Cycling Team website, the Discovery broadband portal and innovated “Sync to Broadcast” sponsored experiences used during the broadcast of many fan favorite shows. 

StoryMaker launches with a robust collection of interactive templates

The StoryMaker platform launched, along with the release of the metaStories redesign of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation website early in 2001. The Gates Foundation utilized StoryMaker to produce rich-media slideshows and interactive video experiences on topics such as global health, education, and libraries. Soon after MSN, Yahoo, Discovery.com, and Scripps Networks publishing teams were using the StoryMaker platform to publish complete websites, interactive maps, quizzes and interactive ads. In 2006, Brightcove acquired metaStories and the Storymaker platform and expanded the functionality to include streaming video, internet TV, and ​​high-quality broadband experiences based on a wide range of fully customizable templates.

Building a Platform for Creating, Managing, and Publishing Rich Media Experiences

Working at msnbc.com, installed the importance of creating tools to allow teams the ability to focus on the content during breaking news and other live events. To do this, repeatable templates were used to provide results for all areas of the site including sports, business, space, entertainment, and world news. Templates for slideshows, polls, maps, and interactive charts became signature features on the site. Other media publishers took notice of msnbc.com’s success, which provided an opportunity to develop interactive features and allowed myself and my team to envision and develop a unique CMS designed for publishing rich-media experiences.


MetaStories was launched with a small team of producers and engineers. The vision was storytelling - emphasizing human experiences so that people can tell the right story at the right time. MetaStories templates enabled people to create compelling content using interactivity, animation, photography, audio, and video as the building blocks of rich-media stories. To fulfill this vision, we launched the StoryMaker platform with the following products:

  • StoryMaker

Client-side software provided an easy-to-use, drag and drop environment that enabled non-technical producers to update all the leading multimedia formats including Macromedia Flash, Real Smil, DHTML, and Windows Media.

  • StoryPlate Template System

StoryPlates were interactive templates that represented different genres, design structures, and client-defined communication models targeted at audience demographics.

  • Content Development Kit

MetaStories Content Development Guide (CDG) and StoryPlate Builder application taught you how to customize an existing StoryPlate, and to align with changing publishing needs.

The primary goal was to create a publishing platform that would enable editors, producers, art directors, and technology managers for the world's leading media, content, and publishing companies to easily minimize the time and cost of publishing-rich media products using the StoryMaker platform.

Product innovation lead by partnering with top-tier customers

The growing demand for interactive web experiences and the continued growth of websites relying on fully integrated rich-media Flash experiences helped shape future versions of StoryMaker. To stay ahead of UX trends our team had regular meetings with producer and UX teams from our top-tier customers to gather feature requests and collaborate on new product ideas. After each meeting, feature ideas and user flows were documented with wireframes, user stories, and new product specifications.  

StoryMaker was a rich-media platform designed to help content creators, publishers, and broadcasters templatize and easily publish highly-complex Macromedia Flash experiences. Soon after launching the StoryMaker platform, top-tier media, technology, and publishing companies such as MSN, Discovery, Yahoo, National Geographic, and USAToday were using StoryMaker to publish video, slideshows, interactive maps, polls, and interactive games. 

At launch, the StoryMaker platform was a desktop application designed for media and publishing companies to templatize flash-based slideshows and simple, carousel-type animations. StoryMaker was redesigned and rebuilt as a web application and the template library quickly expanded to interactive maps, quizzes, video players, and fully customizable Flash websites.

 

As the VP of User experience, I worked with the co-founders, developers, and led the design team to continually innovate with customers and create: 

 

Use Cases - StoryMaker user journeys included the teams using the platform to publish content (editors, designers, and producers) and the end users who would be viewing the front-end products being published. We had to account for accessibility, ease of use, reusability, and repeatable processes for publishing-content.

 

Wireframes and User Stories - The specification documents and approval of any new StoryMaker interface or template began with a series of low-fidelity wireframes and user stories outlining the flow and interface requirements for the core platform and templates. Wireframes were reviewed with the design and development team for feedback and modification and then used as a reference for visual designs and interactive prototyping. 


Visual Designs and Interactive Prototypes - The user experience of the StoryMaker platform was designed to be intuitive and easy to use. Screen resolution was only 800x600 for the first releases, so the visual design was paired down to a simple interface for streamlined workflow and publishing. The templates became the customizable building blocks which allowed designers to apply designs that matched predefined brand standards. 

Product and Design Specifications - As product manager and UX lead, I was responsible for all of the documentation in the end-to-end StoryMaker experience. I worked closely with the engineering team and producers to create the product specifications, to launch, and to maintain the platform.

One of the First Interactive Media Platforms for Producing and Publishing Professional Slideshows, Podcasts, and Custom Rich-Media Experiences

Greg P. Harris

UX Strategist & Product Designer

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