NZZ successfully completes innovation project

After one year of development and five months of beta phase with more than 400 testers, the innovation project NZZ Companion is completed. With financial support from Google's Digital News Initiative (DNI), the NZZ has developed a mobile Smartphone and smartwatch application for iOS and Android, the media company announced on Thursday. "With its consistent focus on users, NZZ has managed to develop a product for the news consumption of the future," says Christian Heise, DNI Fund Operations Manager Google Europe. The app combines editorial curation with algorithmic technologies to deliver a personalized user experience. In addition to a usage-based passive personalization of content, users can also improve their personal news selection at any time by actively rating it: "Companion does not create filter bubbles. The algorithm evaluates articles based on a wide range of criteria - both personal and editorial - and thus ensures enough surprising content. Our key figures confirm this: Towards the end of the beta phase, there were more article views in the personalized area than in the purely editorially curated area," explains Rouven Leuener, Head of Digital Product Development at NZZ Media Group and Companion project manager. Feedback from the beta testers was continuously analyzed and taken into account during the project. At the end of the beta phase, 84 percent of participants said they saw added value in the personalized offering. "The algorithms and data products we developed in the DNI project will be integrated into the digital platforms and products of the NZZ Media Group in the coming months. They will allow us to offer a tailored user experience to every customer who wants it," says Anita Zielina, Chief Product Officer of the NZZ Media Group.

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