Interactive Article Graphics & Maps Enrich Storytelling

The client’s news articles were largely text and images, lacking the rich interactive elements that modern readers crave. Data visualizations and maps had to be separate experiences leading to a disconnected storytelling experience. The network needed a way to embed dynamic graphics and live maps directly into articles on their mobile apps, to make complex news (e.g. election results, data-heavy stories) more engaging. This came with challenges: ensuring these embeds would work seamlessly in the native app environment, handling offline or error scenarios gracefully, and not slowing down article load times. Additionally, the solution had to be flexible for editors to use on the fly, and consistent across iOS and Android, all under tight deadlines for upcoming news cycles.

The client’’s mobile engineering team developed new native Article Graphic and Map components to integrate interactive content right within article pages. On iOS, we leveraged SwiftUI to create reusable, self-contained components for things like charts, infographics, and maps that could fetch data and respond to user gestures. Android implemented analogous custom views. Key to our approach was ensuring these embeds load progressively and have built-in states: for example, a custom loader, error messaging if a graphic is unavailable, and automatic expiration of content after a set time so outdated graphics don’t linger. We collaborated closely with the Editorial and Design teams to make the workflow simple, journalists could attach a graphic or map to an article via the CMS, and the app components would render them natively. The design was made fully responsive, including dark mode support and accessibility, to meet all UX standards. We also added analytics tracking for these components, so the newsroom could see engagement metrics. By focusing on native implementation, we ensured performance remained snappy, heavy lifting happens asynchronously so the rest of the article loads without delay.