Prioritizing New Over Old: Showcasing New Content First

Hching Lin
Feb 1, 2022
4 min read

Updated: Jun 22

Key impact: ✦ Improved navigation across magazine articles ✦ Increased visibility for new content and core features

Some context before we start

When I first joined Kono, I was impressed by our efforts to digitalize magazines. With Smarticle® technology, we turned magazine issues into searchable, chapter-like articles—a big step forward for traditional media.

But there was one big problem: no one knew it existed.

Even though we’d structured articles beautifully behind the scenes, our app still looked and worked like a digital replica of a print magazine. Users had to start from the cover, and the table of contents was buried deep in the reader. It was hard to find, and harder to use.

This is the story of how I redesigned the issue list to highlight what matters: new content, easy access, and a better way to read.

The old flow was holding us back

Here’s how things used to work: users picked a magazine, selected an issue, and started reading—from the cover, page by page.

It was clean and simple, but there were some pretty major issues.

Issue 1 - No clue what’s inside

There was nothing to guide users except the cover. They couldn’t preview what the issue was about, how many articles were inside, or whether it supported EZ Read (our Smarticle® format).

If you ask me, that’s a lot of missing info.

Issue 2 - Most people only read the latest issue anyway

Our data showed that 90% of VIP readers only read the most recent issue. Makes sense—people follow their favorite magazines like they follow TV shows. They want the latest drop.

New users were more likely to explore past issues, but eventually, they followed the same pattern: current issue or bust.

Issue 3 - Starting from page 1 is just too much work

In interviews, users told me they liked to skip around—especially past ads. But on Kono, that wasn’t easy.

Take VOGUE, for example. You had to swipe through a whopping 69 pages of ads just to reach the first article on page 70. That’s not just annoying—it’s a dealbreaker for casual reading.

My goal: Make one issue the star

The idea was simple: let’s show one issue at a time—starting with the latest one—and highlight what’s inside.

Users could:

See the cover
Tap a CTA, such as "Start Reading"
Browse the table of contents right underneath

Want to check out past issues? Just swipe left. This layout made it easy to stay focused, while keeping other issues just a swipe away.

Prototyping revealed what I’d missed

When I tested the concept, I noticed something I hadn't thought of before.

Some long-standing magazines had hundreds of back issues—it would be unrealistic to make users swipe through them all.

So I decided to add a prominent “All Issues” button for power users and archivists. I also made space for “Follow” and “Download” buttons so users wouldn’t lose key actions.

The new design

Here’s what we launched:

Latest issue takes center stage
Past issues peek out to the side, inviting you to swipe
Table of contents is front and center
Swipe left, and the entire layout (cover + TOC) slides with you

It’s clean, focused, and finally makes the most of the structure we worked so hard to build.

Past issues are still easy to find

While we wanted to focus on the current issue, new users still love to explore, so I gave “All Issues” a pretty prominent spot. It’s a small nod to old behavior, without crowding the new layout.

5 entry points to start reading

With all these changes, we ended up with five different ways to enter an issue:

Tap the cover
Tap “Read Offline”
Tap “Audio Read”
Tap an article in the TOC
Tap “Start Reading” (yep, I moved it to the bottom)

Why five? Well, I originally skipped the “Start Reading” button, but user testing showed that a couple of users struggled to find an entry point, so I added it as a safety net at the bottom.

After all, better safe than stuck!

Users can always see if there's EZ Read mode

With the new TOC design, EZ Read support is shown upfront. Now, commuters can pick mobile-friendly articles on the go, without digging around to guess which ones will load well.

Users started using the TOC right away

We launched the redesign and tracked user behavior. Here’s what we saw one month later:

45% still enter from the cover

Readers still liked to read certain magazines from page 1, for example interior design and cosmetic magazines that focus on strong visuals.

38% of reads now come from the TOC

This was a big win. Adding the table of contents made it so much easier to jump straight to the main content, especially for text-heavy content such as news, tech, and business magazines.

Only 2% use the “Start Reading” button

Not a huge number, but it serves as a lifeline for users who need it. It also shows that our other entry points are prominent enough that most users are able to start reading without relying on a big CTA.

Looking back I'd say...

1. Prototypes are worth their weight in gold

Concept prototypes helped validate the flow early and got engineers onboard before we invested too much in dev time. For custom views like this, that early alignment is everything.

2. Always weigh the tradeoffs

This wasn’t an easy feature to build. The layout was custom, and the interactions were non-standard. I had to defend the value, work through feasibility with the team, and adjust scope to make it all doable.

It serves as a reminder: