Designing a better reading experience with Matter: What 5 years at Reddit taught us about building for a highly opinionated user base

Designing a better reading experience with Matter: What 5 years at Reddit taught us about building for a highly opinionated user base

Introduction:
In today's digital age, reading online has become a complex process that involves various behaviors, such as deciding what to read, the act of reading, and what one does with the acquired knowledge. The emergence of read-it-later apps has significantly contributed to this process, but the first generation of such apps lacked intelligence in prioritization, resurfacing, and decay. However, the need for efficient reading experiences that prioritize relevant content remains constant, and this is where Matter comes in.

Prioritizing needs that won't change:
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, emphasizes the importance of focusing on needs that won't change. This principle applies to the reading experience as well. Despite the influx of content and the scarcity of attention, the value of making good decisions about what to read remains high and will continue to increase over time. Trust plays a crucial role in deciding what to read, and people tend to trust other individuals. Recognizing this, Matter elevates writers as first-class citizens in its system, emphasizing good curation to help users discover hidden gems that may be overlooked by engagement-based algorithms.

Balancing the bias towards new content:
While staying up-to-date with the latest news is important, the bias towards new content in our information consumption is often overwhelming. However, it is essential to acknowledge that some of the best content ever produced was not written in the past week. Matter aims to address this issue by providing a counterweight to the overwhelming bias towards new content, ensuring that valuable and timeless pieces are not neglected.

Enhancing the reading experience:
In addition to content prioritization, Matter also focuses on enhancing the reading experience itself. Email inboxes, for instance, are not ideal for reading as most users seek to quickly go through them. Furthermore, email inboxes lack features like highlighting and annotating. To address this, Matter incorporates highly reliable parsing techniques, including Natural Language Processing (NLP) and computer vision, to improve accuracy. Additionally, recognizing the rise in audio consumption, Matter introduces "audio highlights" that allow users to highlight content while listening without needing to open their phones.

Improving navigation and personalization:
Recognizing the importance of efficient navigation, Matter introduces the concept of "minimaps." By two-finger tapping an article, users can view a miniaturized version that allows for quick scanning of headers and easy navigation. Drawing inspiration from video games and code editors, Matter aims to make the reading experience engaging and user-friendly.

Building for a highly opinionated user base:
Drawing from their experience at Reddit, the team behind Matter understands the significance of passionate users and the need to harness their passion productively. Rather than trying to stifle their passion, it is crucial to build trust and leverage their enthusiasm. However, it is essential to differentiate between passionate users and the general user base. The loudest individuals may not represent the majority, and their complaints should be assessed carefully. Users often fail to provide feedback on useful features, assuming they are expected and not worthy of comment. Therefore, it is crucial to consider whether negative feedback represents a significant portion of the user base and if the users providing feedback can influence others.

Creating a safe space for feedback:
The team at Reddit learned that the public square is not the ideal place to have nuanced product discussions. Public back-and-forths often lack clarity and alignment, as participants are more focused on winning the conversation rather than promoting understanding. To foster productive feedback, it is important to create a psychologically safe environment where users feel comfortable expressing their opinions and ideas. Additionally, if feedback is requested, it is crucial to consider and act upon it to maintain trust. Asking for feedback without taking it into account can lead to a loss of trust.

Actionable advice:

1. Prioritize trust: Elevate writers as trusted sources and emphasize curation to help users discover valuable content.
2. Balance bias towards newness: Provide a counterweight to the overwhelming bias towards new content by highlighting timeless and valuable pieces.
3. Foster productive feedback: Create a safe and inclusive space for users to express their opinions and ideas, and ensure that feedback is considered and acted upon.

Conclusion:
Designing a better reading experience requires a deep understanding of user needs, trust, and the importance of feedback. Matter aims to address these aspects by prioritizing trust, balancing the bias towards new content, enhancing the reading experience, and creating a safe space for feedback. By implementing these strategies, Matter strives to increase the ROI of reading, enabling users to gain more insight, knowledge, and thrill from their reading endeavors.