The New York Times has been consistent in publishing great pieces of interactive content. They’ve raised the bar again with this story on the New-York subway map.

The New York Times is a media institution. An icon.

We know them from their thorough reporting but also, more recently, in how they have been able to work with interactive content formats in new ways.

This time, they are telling us the story of the New York subway map in a very versatile format: the story format.

From Snapchat, to Instagram and Facebook, the story format is making ways and becoming a very intuitive way of telling a story in short bursts, or frames.

By using this approach for this story, the New York Times’ team is demonstrating how great reporting, how great content, can live in a format that allows pretty much anyone that has interest in it to dive into it, but still remain in control of their experience.

You will also notice, by experimenting on mobile or desktop, that at pretty much any point in the story, one could decide to stop watching but still have the feeling of having had a complete content experience.

Want to get your content team up to speed on this? Organize a team workshop or one-on-one coaching with an expert of our team. You can also book Alexandre to come and speak at your event!

This is persona empathy at its best.

Some people will want to have a longer experience, but others will just want to skim the surface, the beginning of the story but still have had a fulfilling experience.

Why not spend a couple minutes to read and watch this story, and this experience, and ask yourself: are there content topics, pillars or themes that your brand could treat in such a way that it could be relevant for multiple types of personas or readers at once?

To explore possible interactive formats for your brand, contact an expert at Toast and schedule a consultation with our experts today.