New website and app for the Observer

It's not just the Beobachter.ch website that has been revamped. To coincide with the relaunch, the editorial team is also launching a new Beobachter app for iOS and Android with integrated ePaper. Everything behind the scenes is also being optimized: The structures and work processes of the online and print editorial teams are being merged.

On the new Beobachter website, advice content with a daily relevance is given even greater prominence: The relevant stories, videos from the new moving image team and popular topic evergreens are optimally presented and editorially curated in the central verticals "Work," "Family," "Money," "Health," "Consumption" and "Living. Thanks to the clearly laid out map look, the user is in the topic with just one click. Freely available advice articles lead to "Guider," the Beobachter's paid legal advice platform: Here, legal questions can be answered with the help of the comprehensive collection of basic articles, case studies, fact sheets and sample templates, as well as personal advice from the Beobachter's advice center. Further paid content and services - especially in the area of health - are currently under development and will follow.

The design of the new Beobachter website is responsive. The simple navigation guides the user quickly and purposefully through the Beobachter world. Thanks to the generous magazine design, which is based on the form and color language of the print edition, not only the editorial content but also all standard market advertising formats, as well as future, newly developed advertising formats, are given a suitable appearance.

At the same time as the new website, there is a new Beobachter app. The app allows direct access to all current content of Beobachter.ch and the print edition as a digital, mobile-optimized ePaper version.

As part of the relaunch, the Beobachter editorial team is merging the editorial structures of online and print. All Beobachter content will be managed and coordinated by the same editor-in-chief and from a single source.

After "Guider" and the GaultMillau Channel, the Beobachter is the third digital product launch by Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland since the joint venture was founded in January 2016. Beobachter.ch is now part of the new internal publishing platform with a shared data pool, content management system, and modular construction kit for future websites and digital offerings. Handelszeitung and Bilanz will follow in a next step.

Leeor Engländer, Head of Digital Products and Digital Product Development Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland: "In times of social media and distributed content, it is particularly important for us to create a high recognition value through the individual layout and unmistakable design of our websites. Users should recognize the Observer as the sender of the content at all times, regardless of whether they join us via Facebook, Twitter or Whatsapp."

Andreas Thut, Head of Digital Beobachter: "Beobachter content works perfectly on digital channels, which is reflected in the steady growth of our user base to now 1 milllion unique users. With the relaunch, we are laying the foundation for the next steps. We look forward to bringing new ideas to life for our users thanks to this platform."

The website was developed with the support of Amazee Labs. The full service agency specializes in the development of complex web solutions with Responsive Design.