The New York Times has been at the forefront of digital innovation in news media in recent times: releasing APIs for articles and data, creating a 'visualisation lab', debuting an alternative homepage, and simultaneously documenting these developments on the Times Open blog.

Continuing this push, this month the paper has launched its First Look blog, which will feature news of site developments and solicit user feedback, and two new beta projects: the 'article skimmer' and Web Slices.

Using RSS feeds to pull together content, the skimmer tool (shown below) is intended to give the feel of browsing a Sunday newspaper, according to a blog post; while Web Slices, developed for the forthcoming release of Internet Explorer 8, are automatically updating bookmarks for the Times' latest news, TimesPeople and 'most emailed' sections.

Screenshot of the New York Times
Journalism.co.uk put some questions to Marc Frons, NYTimes' chief technology officer, digital operations, to find out more about the developments:

How will the First Look blog feed into the development process?

[SG]We are constantly looking for ways to speed development and focus on the right projects. First Look is a way for us to showcase some of our ideas and get feedback in the early stages of development before we spend too much time turning them into full-fledged projects.

We also see First Look as a place where external developers can showcase applications that use New York Times content.

What made you choose that design for the 'article skimmer'?
The article skimmer works digitally for the same reasons it works in print: readers do more work with their eyes, and less with their fingers.

What are the benefits of the Web Slices tool for users? And do you think people will consume NYTimes content in this way?
Web Slices are an interesting evolution of the live bookmark. They allow us to present constantly updates information in a visually rich way from anywhere on the Web, and we are excited about their potential. Only time will tell if people will use them, though, and that's why we've put out a few as prototypes.

Is this another nail in the coffin for the homepage, or part of a wider distribution strategy for the Times' content online?
The homepage remains the most visited page on our site and we expect it to be around for many years to come. That does not mean it will always look the way it does today. We're going to adapt as the needs and habits of our readers change over time.

Our online distribution strategy must be multifaceted. NYTimes.com was a pioneer in the distribution of RSS feeds, and we have recently taken the lead among newspaper publishers in releasing a series of content APIs.

Despite the popularity of online news sites, it's obvious that much more work needs to be done to make the experience of reading online and shifting from article to article as easy and intuitive as it is in print.

We and other news organisations are still a long way from achieving that goal, but we are committed to experimenting. Skimmer is just one of those experiments.

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