Today we are launching a completely new version of Quartz Index that’s designed to really shine on your phone. Go check it out, and let us know what you think.
Index is our way of highlighting statistics that show how the global economy is changing. The first version, launched last year, took the form of a dashboard. The new version transforms each datapoint into its own story that you can easily read and share. Read about the world’s longest flight, the one job destroyed by automation, or why Brazil’s 0% GDP growth is actually good.
The stories in Quartz Index are built for mobile. You can tap or swipe through each story and, if you’re enjoying yourself, keep tapping right through to the next one. Each story starts with a datapoint we’ve chosen to highlight and then places it in context through a series of cards.
In designing this new version of Index, we challenged ourselves to go beyond mobile-first, which has always guided our decisions at Quartz. The buzzword of choice for this project was, instead, mobile-native. More than two-thirds of qz.com readers are on their phones, and we wanted to give them an experience that doesn’t just work on mobile but excels there. (It also works just fine on laptop and desktop computers, if that’s more your thing.)
You’ll undoubtedly find the functionality of Index stories familiar if you use Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter Moments, Hardbound, or other mobile apps that have embraced tappable stories. We’re excited to bring the same treatment to the web and see how people use it. To us, the tappable approach feels natural in your hand and provides new ways to tell important stories about the forces shaping our economy. It’s also highly visual, filled with charts, videos, and other images.
The launch sponsor for this new version of Index is iShares by Blackrock. You’ll find their stories throughout Quartz Index, as well, using the same mobile-native approach to storytelling.
Please give Index a whirl and tell us what you think at indexsupport@qz.com. Happy tapping!