Joris Dumas

I am a Product Designer with 12+ years of experience, passionate about user-centered design, data-driven decision-making, and cross-functional collaboration.

My mission is to elevate, connect, and empower people by solving their problems in an elegant way.

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Chapter 01 / 04

Why

Every project always starts with the ‘why’, and if we can’t answer that question, we simply move on to the next one!

Define the business goal

Le Temps · App 2030, Kick-off

We decided that the rebuild of “Le Temps” app would focus on improving subscriber retention and driving meaningful engagement.

We held a kick-off workshop to align on a shared direction:

A 3–5-year vision with one objective: to reposition the mobile app at the heart of the digital strategy, focusing on subscriber retention and engagement.
Its mission: to showcase all editorial formats, audio, video, and more, via a user-centered approach and personalized journeys.
Foster an agile, user-centric company culture.

App vision project kick-off workshop board

Le Temps · Conversion funnel

We created a funnel to track the metrics that matter, quarter by quarter.

A conversion funnel, from reach to subscriber habits, that pinpoints exactly where and why users drop off, so we can prioritize what to focus on.

Conversion funnel, from discovery to retention, with drop-off metrics at each stage

Chapter 02 / 04

How

Make the right product by framing the problem through a discovery process.

Understand

Le Temps · User research

We ran interviews and observations

Interviews

First, we ran a survey on how subscribers and non-subscribers consume news, then held interviews to discuss users’ needs and frustrations.

27survey responses

28+people interviewed

Observations

We conducted observation sessions by asking users to use the “Le Temps” app or website as they would in everyday life. This helped us understand how they interact with our product, their needs, and frustrations.

10people on the app

7people on the web

Le Temps · Data tools

We put in place a data-driven approach

We explored the data to surface trends that mattered and used these insights to enrich our ideation workshop with real, actionable data.

Data tools and analytics dashboard, view, click and conversion charts

Le Temps · Personas

We defined our reader personas

We created reader personas using all the insights we collected through surveys, interviews, observations, and data. These personas reflect the users consuming our product.

The main subscriber

Info-driven loyalist

I'm a discerning, well-informed news consumer who prioritises reliable sources and paid content for quality and depth. I find articles via “Le Temps”'s homepage, aggregators and newsletters, reading mostly in the morning, on my commute and in the evening. I retain more by reading than listening, and I subscribed for the title's reputation, I'd only leave if quality dropped or prices rose sharply.

Our target

The curious reader

I'm a news consumer who likes to stay informed while being entertained. I reach articles mostly through social media and news apps, and I appreciate video and audio formats as much as text. I subscribe to a newspaper because I value quality, trustworthy information, but my commitment follows the news cycle, so I sometimes unsubscribe and resubscribe depending on the period.

Hard to catch

Free & connected info consumer

I prefer free articles and video to stay informed, and I'm not willing to pay for news. I open a free article only to dig deeper, and mostly watch video on social platforms. I care about my privacy, so I turn off notifications and avoid sharing data. Traditional outlets like “Le Temps” leave me indifferent, I'd subscribe only if several articles genuinely interested me.

Le Temps · App 2030, User journey

We imagined new usage concepts

The goal of mapping the user journey was to identify what worked and what didn’t. It enabled us to imagine new usage concepts for the app across different contexts.

Le Temps · App 2030, Design studio

We reinvented the homepage as a daily companion for 2030

Using the journeys we generated and insights from our qualitative studies, we held a workshop to turn brainstorming concepts into real ideas through sketching.

Individual idea generation
Sharing ideas
Crazy 8 exercise
Sharing again
Individual poster creation

Le Temps · App 2030, Converging ideas

We aligned on the 2030 vision

Workshop boards of app concept sketches and ideas

We reviewed each other's ideas, voted, critiqued, and decided on the core directions for the app's new vision.

The vision we defined together was:

Contextual personalization

Adapts the content to user habits and context, location, time and mood.

Flexible formats

Modular content based on available time.
Options for quick or in-depth reading.
Audio as a core format.

An engaging experience

Surprising elements to build loyalty.
A daily companion with interactive experiences.
Gamification and play.

Chapter 03 / 04

What

Make the product right with prototypes.

Prototypes

Le Temps · App, Vision 2030

We built an app that supports you in your day-to-day life

We have created a new prototype for “Le Temps” app, offering new features for discovering content that combines text and audio articles, powered by enhanced AI-driven personalization.

Homepage

Article page

Le Temps · Subscription funnel

We improved the subscription process

We reworked the wording of the offers to make them easier to understand, and redesigned the account creation page and the order confirmation page, making the entire subscription process simpler and quicker to complete.

One of the first iterations

One of the last iterations

Le Temps · App, Audio

We have created an audio playback feature for articles

This was a response to a need that was frequently expressed during our user research: checking the news whilst doing something else.

Audio prototype

Le Temps · Design system

We made an agile design system

We built a core file that gathered the main components across all devices, then another file for the app-dedicated components and another for the web. These components enable the design team to design faster and developers to implement with precision.

Figma design system, Components page with Block link, Switch, Button, Tag and Modal

Figma variables, primitives collection with font and color tokens

Chapter 04 / 04

Evaluate

It is better to be wrong in the right way than to be right in the wrong way.

User testing

Le Temps · App, Vision 2030

We ensured our AI-enhanced content pleased our readers

We made sure readers were comfortable with AI-enhanced content and understood the new personalized homepage and article page, with features like article summaries or asking our chatbot a question about the article.

Results from tests with 8 people

Contextual personalization: a success, thanks to an adaptive AI block.

Contextual personalization, AI summary block across app screens

Flexible content formats: article summaries and AI-augmented search were appreciated.

Flexible content formats, article summary and AI-augmented search

Engaging experience: the stats page and year-in-review drew mixed interest and some tracking concerns.

Engaging experience, yearly stats, reading challenge and badges

Le Temps · Subscription funnel

We reviewed the subscription funnel many times before finding the right way

First iterations: We first aligned on a build-your-own offer: a base digital plan, with the option to add the print paper. We tested different prototypes with more than 100 users across 7 iterations and saw that a made-to-measure system wasn't understood and didn't work for users.

Build-your-own subscription offer, base plan plus optional print supplements

Last iterations: After many iterations, we returned to a more traditional model, three clear plans, from a digital base to digital plus print, and renamed them so they'd be easier to grasp.

The result: a fluid path, well-understood offers, and an easy account-creation and checkout flow.

Three clear subscription plans, Digital, Digital & Heidi.news, and print — Select an offer

Checkout summary with optional 1-year commitment and 5% discount — Switch from monthly to yearly plan

Data analysis · Audio playback

We doubled audio article plays

With the new audio player design, playing an article in audio became far more visible. Once Play is pressed, it's much easier to see the options, and you can now build playlists.

Audio article plays, daily chart roughly doubling after the new player launch

Survey · New app launch

An app our readers love

For the launch, we ran a survey: 280+ people shared what they thought of the new app. They liked the speed and fluidity, the new features like bookmarks, audio playback, dark mode, and the more modern design. The main critique: the homepage feels too busy and dense. This will be a new challenge we’ll have to solve.

62.9survey NPS

2.6 → 4.6App Store rating, 2024 to 2026

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