First idea
The “Living Room Newsroom” fixation
News unfolding across your coffee table in 3D, with timelines, avatars, and satellite maps. It worked. For that moment. But only for that moment.
Media app | Project | Mixed reality
Redefining News:
Personalized, Context‑Aware, Engaging
Endless headlines at 2 AM. World-changing events that feel flat. Important stories buried under clickbait.
Read the story ↓
Media app | Project | Mixed reality
Redefining News: Personalized, Context‑Aware, Engaging
Endless headlines at 2 AM. World-changing events that feel flat. Important stories buried under clickbait.
Snapp hero mockup
“Why is the most important stuff in the world… so boring to read?”
The short version
News is clickbaity and not engaging.
Endless headlines, flat stories and clickbait bury what matters, so people skim, switch off or avoid the news altogether.
The gap ↓A companion that fits your day.
I redesigned news as an adaptive AI experience that learns what you care about and adapts to where you are: commute, lunch break, or couch.
The answer ↓Breadth or depth. Nobody did context.
How might we deliver just enough personalised news, in whatever mode the moment calls for?
How I got there ↓Free to skim, paid for depth.
Daily news stays free. AR stories and deep dives sit behind a subscription, with opt-in personalisation and light sponsors.
What pays for it ↓01 · The gap
Few people pay for news, and many avoid it.
10 interviews · 30 surveys · industry reports
Only 5%
of Indians paid for online news in 2023.
Source [1]39%
avoid news because it's boring or negative, up 3 points year-on-year.
Source [2]Only 10%
News apps hold just 10% of India's digital news market.
Industry reports
Mapping pain points: meet Aarav
Aarav, 27
Digital Marketing Associate · Delhi
“I don't get a lot of time to read news. I mostly scan through Inshorts and keep up with social media news bits.”
- Busy on-the-go
- Tech savvy
Apps he uses
- Tech comfort level
- High. Early adopter of new technology (owns an AR-capable smartphone and uses wearables).
- News consumption habits
- Skims at work, listens on the commute, reads deeper in the evening, shares in group chats.
- Goals
- News that fits his interests and his moment, whether he's reading, listening, or interacting.
- Frustrations
- Long articles, doom-scroll overload, clickbait with no depth.
Where Aarav's day goes wrong
What I learned
- Users don't know what they want to read until they see it.
- Ads make every page exhausting.
- News hasn't evolved. Long articles don't fit short attention spans.
02 · The answer
Not just news.
A companion that fits your day.
Three modes, shaped by context, plus a community loop that keeps curiosity alive.
Scenario · The commuter
Aarav has 8 minutes on the bus and no time for long reads. Snapp gives him the full story in under a minute, as a 60-second read or a 30-second voice clip, with bullet points and visual cues.
Idea spark
A glanceable, AI-summarised mode. Bullet-point news that floats at eye level. Swipeable. Smart. No noise.
- Best for
- Breaking news, daily updates and business stories when you're alert but rushed.
- Designed for
- Moments of urgency, commuting, or quick information checks.
Scenario · The deep dive
It's 9 PM and Aarav is on his sofa with time to think. He's curious about the Russia-Ukraine conflict but finds text articles overwhelming. The story opens like a scene, where he can walk through characters, events and locations in 3D.
Idea spark
Reimagine long-form stories as immersive experiences. Explore data, characters and maps at your own pace. Not flat, not passive, but spatial and interactive.
- Best for
- Geopolitics, climate and investigative stories, when you're contemplative and have time to explore.
Scenario · The multitasker
Aarav is cooking dinner, hands busy and eyes tired. Snapp carries on his story in a natural AI voice, picking up exactly where he left off reading, with smart transitions and optional ambient effects.
Idea spark
A seamless switch to voice narration. Not a separate app. Just one tap, and the news follows you, ambiently.
- Best for
- Human interest, features and editorials, when you need passive, ambient consumption.
- Designed for
- Multitasking or eyes-free moments, when you're tired but still curious.
Community · The loop
Community, not just competition. See what friends are reading, compare curiosities and rise together.
A personalised loop
Snapp evolves with you: your pace, your interests, your modes.
- Achievements that matter
- Earn badges and collect tokens for free subscriptions by keeping reading streaks, sharing insights or exploring AR stories.
03 · How I got there
Breadth or depth. Nobody did context.
Existing news apps optimised for either breadth (InShorts, Google News) or depth (DailyHunt, The Hindu). None optimised for context: switching modes between commute, work break, and bedtime. That gap became the core of Snapp.
How might we
…deliver just enough personalised news, in whatever mode the moment calls for?
Early exploration: the first idea worked. For one moment.
Fumble
People don't always want to be immersed.
The ideation
- What if the news knew what I needed, before I did?
- Can we let users deep-dive into a story without locking them into a rigid mode?
- Could the app surface just enough (a timeline, key points, a visual clue) to tell the story in under a minute?
- What if AI could gather personalised headlines?
04 · What pays for it
Free to skim, paid for depth.
- Freemium AR stories and deep dives behind a subscription.
- Opt-in personalisation Privacy-first.
- Sponsored content Light and non-intrusive.
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