Online allows you to go beyond «staticness». There are various elements one can utilise. Let's look at them, from the very basic ones, to full custom dynamic components.
A very basic element. But without it there is no world wide web. Article series? Fancy links. Formats? Just links between articles. References aka Einzelnachweise? External links. Bandersnatch? A clip & two links.
Give your story the sound of the real world.
Show the real world. Or animation something linearly. Or ambiente. Or build a Bandersnatch together with good old links ;)
Usecases: Responsiveness Illustrations, Unique Style, Tables.
Examples:
- Infografik in «Geheimsache Doping: Der ‹Plan Sotschi›»
- Tabelle in «Die DSGVO ist da – und jetzt?»
- A screenplay, a story set in typewriter
Examples:
Min: 3 weeks of dev work, first lunch meeting 6 months before publication
Difficulty: concept, implementation
Min: 1 week of dev work, at least one week of work for researching, first notice almost a year ahead
Difficulty: building up the knowledge, reading, understanding and transforming source material, fact checking
Min: 2 weeks of dev work, initial version a month before publication
Difficulty: building up the knowledge, internal & external communication
Min: 2 weeks of dev work, initial meetings 3 month before publication
Difficulty: concept, finding the right data
A journalist should provide as much material as possible. No material, no fanciness. Even a html illustration needs source material.
- tabular data
- high res/vector graphics (e.g. floor plans)
- clear explenations in digital form (e.g. police inquiries, documentation)
Interactives need time. Don't expect something next week.
What have others done? Bringing examples can help building a shared understanding what is desired and accelerate the concept phase. As long as we have our own source material there is no shame in copying a concept that worked.
- NYT «2018: The Year in Visual Stories and Graphics»
- Observablehq Visualization Collection
- Maps Collection
- Explorables Collection
Charts are optimized for this and are fast because of it. Some interactive components could be too.