Help building the future of journalism in Indonesia
Help building the future of journalism in Indonesia
With the news and media landscape in Indonesia becoming increasingly dynamic and diverse over the past 20 years, digital transformation remains one of the toughest challenges for media companies, especially for the small and medium ones. In this scenario, the Google News Initiative (GNI) Startups Lab is a pioneering project from Google in collaboration with Echos Innovation Lab to support news media startups in Indonesia that are at an early stage of development and contribute to the acceleration of the news ecosystem in the digital environment.
As part of the Echos team, I helped ten selected news media startups by providing them with workshops and mentorship on topics such as audience-centricity, crafting digital products, business models, marketing strategy, community building and fundraising on top of the access to funds, training and resources provided by Google.
With the news and media landscape in Indonesia becoming increasingly dynamic and diverse over the past 20 years, digital transformation remains one of the toughest challenges for media companies, especially for the small and medium ones. In this scenario, the Google News Initiative (GNI) Startups Lab is a pioneering project from Google in collaboration with Echos Innovation Lab to support news media startups in Indonesia that are at an early stage of development and contribute to the acceleration of the news ecosystem in the digital environment.
As part of the Echos team, I helped ten selected news media startups by providing them with workshops and mentorship on topics such as audience-centricity, crafting digital products, business models, marketing strategy, community building and fundraising on top of the access to funds, training and resources provided by Google.
With the news and media landscape in Indonesia becoming increasingly dynamic and diverse over the past 20 years, digital transformation remains one of the toughest challenges for media companies, especially for the small and medium ones. In this scenario, the Google News Initiative (GNI) Startups Lab is a pioneering project from Google in collaboration with Echos Innovation Lab to support news media startups in Indonesia that are at an early stage of development and contribute to the acceleration of the news ecosystem in the digital environment.
As part of the Echos team, I helped ten selected news media startups by providing them with workshops and mentorship on topics such as audience-centricity, crafting digital products, business models, marketing strategy, community building and fundraising on top of the access to funds, training and resources provided by Google.
Learn how to develop an audience base, refine content strategy and use a variety of innovation methods to products validated by audience
Learn how to develop an audience base, refine content strategy and use a variety of innovation methods to products validated by audience
Pillar 1:
Product Development
Pillar 1:
Product Development
Learn how to implement the right sustainable business model, measure growth, and take on marketing strategies
Learn how to implement the right sustainable business model, measure growth, and take on marketing strategies
Pillar 2:
Growth & Marketing
Pillar 2:
Growth & Marketing
Learn how build the right team & partnerships, get financial viability to delivering pitches effective specifically as a startup from the news industry
Learn how build the right team & partnerships, get financial viability to delivering pitches effective specifically as a startup from the news industry
Pillar 3:
Finance & Investment
Pillar 3:
Finance & Investment
Pillar 1:
Product Development
Learn how to develop an audience base, refine content strategy and use a variety of innovation methods to products validated by audience
Pillar 2:
Growth & Marketing
Learn how to implement the right sustainable business model, measure growth, and take on marketing strategies
Pillar 3:
Finance & Investment
Learn how build the right team & partnerships, get financial viability to delivering pitches effective specifically as a startup from the news industry
Project Objective
Project Objective
The goal of this initiative is to empower journalistic startups to better understand their audiences, create higher quality content (text, audio and/or video) and navigate the pitfalls of monetization. Through intensive workshops and mentorship, the goal is to help them improve their capabilities to sustainably provide their audience with high-quality journalism specifically focusing on the following three pillars:
The goal of this initiative is to empower journalistic startups to better understand their audiences, create higher quality content (text, audio and/or video) and navigate the pitfalls of monetization. Through intensive workshops and mentorship, the goal is to help them improve their capabilities to sustainably provide their audience with high-quality journalism specifically focusing on the following three pillars:
Google News Initiative Startups Lab Indonesia
Empowering ten news startups across Indonesia to enhance their business model and generate impact for their audience through workshops and mentorship that leverages the design thinking approach.
Role
Lead UI/UX Designer
Year
2022
Tools
Figma
Approach
User Research,
IA Mapping, Wireframing, Usability Test
Google News Initiative Startups Lab Indonesia
Google News Initiative Startups Lab Indonesia
Empowering ten news startups across Indonesia to enhance their business model and generate impact for their audience through workshops and mentorship that leverages the design thinking approach.
Role
Design Thinker,
Facilitator, Mentor in Echos’ Team
Role
Design Thinker,
Facilitator, Mentor in Echos’ Team
Year
2022-2023
Tools
Miro, Zoom, Figma
Approach
Design Workshops,
Bi-Weekly Mentorships, Desk Research, Business Model Canvas Generation
Approach
Workshops,
Bi-Weekly Mentorships, Business Model Canvas Generation
Challenges
Challenges
Here are the top challenges the startups faced in each pillar and to which the Echos team focused on giving intense mentorship to.
Here are the top challenges the startups faced in each pillar and to which the Echos team focused on giving intense mentorship to.
Here are the top challenges the startups faced in each pillar and to which the Echos team focused on giving intense mentorship to.
Pillar 1: Product Development
The startups limited exposure to possible product offerings & innovations
The startups still don’t know who their target audience are hence not knowing the type of content to offer
The startups don’t know how well their offering works due to the lack of feedback system from audience
Some of the top challenges of the startups mostly start in understanding their target audience which ripples to the challenges they face in monetization without disrupting their audience’s experience especially with spammy ads.
The startups still don’t know who their target audience are hence not knowing the type of content to offer
The startups limited exposure to possible product offerings & innovations
The startups limited exposure to possible product offerings & innovations
The startups don’t know how well their offering works due to the lack of feedback system from audience
Pillar 2: Growth & Marketing
The startups limited exposure to business model patterns with relevant revenue streams that don’t rely on ads
Pillar 3: Finance & Investment
The startups need access and information on leveraging collaboration to support their business model
Pillar 2: Growth & Marketing
As most of the startups have been relying on advertisement and government partnerships as their revenue streams, it was time to help them be exposed to a range of business model patterns out there that could be adapted to the value they offer.
As most of the startups have been relying on advertisement and government partnerships as their revenue streams, it was time to help them be exposed to a range of business model patterns out there that could be adapted to the value they offer.
The startups limited exposure to business model patterns with relevant revenue streams that don’t rely on ads
Pillar 3: Finance & Investment
Once the startups have set target partners to support their business, they needed to understand how to reach out to these partners and investors, how to tailor an effective pitch as well as articulating their value propositions clearly.
The startups need access and information on leveraging collaboration to support their business model
Here are some of the approaches to guide the startups in facing the aforementioned challenges.
Prepare Startups to Conduct User Interviews
Prepare Startups to Conduct User Interviews
Although they have professional journalists in the team, conducting user interviews may be different than how they’re used to doing it. So we provided user interview guidelines, templates on types of information to extract, and guide on how to synthesize.
Although they have professional journalists in the team, conducting user interviews may be different than how they’re used to doing it. So we provided user interview guidelines, templates on types of information to extract, and guide on how to synthesize.
Interview Template
Interview Guide
Synthesis Guide
Synthesis Guide
Frameworks to Spark Ideation & Prototyping
Frameworks to Spark Ideation & Prototyping
We assisted the startups to translate insights they found from their research into How Might We questions that they should find solutions for. Then we provided exercises to help find inspirations on solutions, get them to think outside the box for ideas and articulate them into sketches and detail notes.
We assisted the startups to translate insights they found from their research into How Might We questions that they should find solutions for. Then we provided exercises to help find inspirations on solutions, get them to think outside the box for ideas and articulate them into sketches and detail notes.
Lightning Demo
3-Step Concept
3-Step Concept
Feedback on Prototype
Concept Testing & Synthesize Feedback
Concept Testing & Synthesize Feedback
We provided a toolkit to help the startups plan, test, and measure their concept & product testing. They used the growth tracker sheets, documented their process, and consulted with the mentors on how to move forward with their strategies based on their findings.
We provided a toolkit to help the startups plan, test, and measure their concept & product testing. They used the growth tracker sheets, documented their process, and consulted with the mentors on how to move forward with their strategies based on their findings.
Testing Plan
Testing Plan
Growth Toolkit
Growth Toolkit
Testing Documentation
Business Model Canvas Patterns & Exercise
Business Model Canvas Patterns & Exercise
We curated a set of business model patterns relevant to the startups’ context to inspire them to create their own beyond common models used by existing news media.
We curated a set of business model patterns relevant to the startups’ context to inspire them to create their own beyond common models used by existing news media.
Collaboration Sharing Session & Pitching Guide
Collaboration Sharing Session & Pitching Guide
We facilitated sessions where the startups can pitch their collaboration model amongst the cohort themselves. Most importantly we also provided sessions of mentorship on pitch deck crafting, pitch simulation and pitches inviting actual investors.
We facilitated sessions where the startups can pitch their collaboration model amongst the cohort themselves. Most importantly we also provided sessions of mentorship on pitch deck crafting, pitch simulation and pitches inviting actual investors.
Methods & Approach
Methods & Approach
The 16-week program consists of live online workshops and mentorships that are held bi-weekly. Additionally, before starting each workshop, there were Inspirational Talks where we invited experts on the week’s focused topic to share knowledge and use cases around topics in the aforementioned pillars. We applied the design thinking approach, where problem-solving processes were based on audience needs and went through creative brainstorming activities to generate tailored solutions and strategies.
As a facilitator and direct mentor, I was also responsible to synthesize participants outputs from each week’s session and create weekly reports which eases us to develop the final report at the end of the program.
The 16-week program consists of live online workshops and mentorships that are held bi-weekly. Additionally, before starting each workshop, there were Inspirational Talks where we invited experts on the week’s focused topic to share knowledge and use cases around topics in the aforementioned pillars. We applied the design thinking approach, where problem-solving processes were based on audience needs and went through creative brainstorming activities to generate tailored solutions and strategies.
As a facilitator and direct mentor, I was also responsible to synthesize participants outputs from each week’s session and create weekly reports which eases us to develop the final report at the end of the program.
Here are some of the approaches to guide the startups in facing the aforementioned challenges.
Prepare Startups to Conduct User Interviews
Although they have professional journalists in the team, conducting user interviews may be different than how they’re used to doing it. So we provided user interview guidelines, templates on types of information to extract, and guide on how to synthesize.
Synthesis Guide
Interview Template
Frameworks to Spark Ideation & Prototyping
We assisted the startups to translate insights they found from their research into How Might We questions that they should find solutions for. Then we provided exercises to help find inspirations on solutions, get them to think outside the box for ideas and articulate them into sketches and detail notes.
Lightning Demo
3-Step Concept
Feedback on Prototype
Concept Testing & Synthesize Feedback
We provided a toolkit to help the startups plan, test, and measure their concept & product testing. They used the growth tracker sheets, documented their process, and consulted with the mentors on how to move forward with their strategies based on their findings.
Testing Plan
Testing Documentation
Business Model Canvas Patterns & Exercise
We curated a set of business model patterns relevant to the startups’ context to inspire them to create their own beyond common models used by existing news media.
Collaboration Sharing Session & Pitching Guide
We facilitated sessions where the startups can pitch their collaboration model amongst the cohort themselves. Most importantly we also provided sessions of mentorship on pitch deck crafting, pitch simulation and pitches inviting actual investors.
Startup
Value Proposition
Business Model
Most Helpful Process
IMPACT
A
Comic format publications
Space for local artists and comic creators to contribute in comic production through publication partnerships
Endorsement/paid partnerships
Community building for local artists to contribute in content production
Audience interview
Prototyping
Concept testing
Pitching Mentorship
2x growth of Instagram account followers
70,000% increase in reach from while testing their prototypes
B
Online & Offline learning platforms to enable the community to take part in publishing contents on village issues
Initiating Village Information System as a database for village info & directory
Paid subscriptions for the learning platform
Sponsorships through partnerships with trusted institutions supporting the cause
Audience interview
Business Model Canvas Exploration
Pitching Mentorship
60% increase in total unique visitors on their website
Obtained trust from collaborations that opened up new grants from partners
C
Sports journalism
Podcast on healthy sports & lifestyle
Offline and online Sport Media events for the community
Freemium Podcast subscription
Sponsorships through partnerships with organizations and influential
Audience interview
Concept testing
Business Model Canvas Exploration
Pitching Mentorship
Podcast views exceeded target metric by 6,000 views
58% increase in bookmarks on Instagram
2.95% increase in TikTok content engagement
D
A subdomain highlighting agriculture issues & information
Provide commodity pricing dashboard
Accommodates online forum to support controlled user-generated information
Membership
Advertorial
Audience interview
Community building
Concept testing
Business Model Canvas Exploration
322% increase of Facebook user engagement on their Facebook Posts
16x increase in audience reach on facebook
The 10 startups were also asked to do a self-assessment before and after the program. The graphs below show the comparison between the assessment before and after the program. The results demonstrate how well each organization did in each area and the areas which need further improvement.
Metrics
Metrics
Growth
Planning
KPIs
Business Plan
Agile
Methodologies
Product/
Market fit
Validation
Early-Adopter
Knowledge
Problem
Awareness
OKR
Methodology
Prototyping
Culture
After
After
Before
Openness
to failure
Openness for
improvement
Openness for
improvement
Innovation
Monitoring
Innovation
Monitoring
Audience
Involvement
Audience
Involvement
Audience
Understanding
Audience
Understanding
Pitch
Confidence
Pitch
Confidence
Pitch
Structure
MVP
Culture
MVP
Culture
At the end of the program, after conducting many synthesis processes, the Echos team and I have also put together a final report* with more details of the background, process, learnings and impact in the 16-weeks of accelerating these startups’ directions.
*The final report will be shared attached in this portfolio as soon as it is is officially released by Google.
Results
By starting form getting to know their audience better, the startups were then able to strategize which audience profile to target the right value proposition, how to sustain their enhanced offering without solely relying on advertisement models, and even leveraging the Indonesian “gotong-royong” spirit to fuel collaborations among startups and communities in the audience. Here are the four highlighted impactful result from the startups after the GNI Startups Lab program.
By starting form getting to know their audience better, the startups were then able to strategize which audience profile to target the right value proposition, how to sustain their enhanced offering without solely relying on advertisement models, and even leveraging the Indonesian “gotong-royong” spirit to fuel collaborations among startups and communities in the audience. Here are the four highlighted impactful result from the startups after the GNI Startups Lab program.
Startup
Value Proposition
Business Model
Most Helpful Process
IMPACT
A
Comic format publications
Space for local artists and comic creators to contribute in comic production through publication partnerships
Endorsement/paid partnerships
Community building for local artists to contribute in content production
Audience interview
Prototyping
Concept testing
Pitching Mentorship
2x growth of Instagram account followers
70,000% increase in reach from while testing their prototypes
Startup
Value Proposition
Business Model
Most Helpful Process
IMPACT
B
Online & Offline learning platforms to enable the community to take part in publishing contents on village issues
Initiating Village Information System as a database for village info & directory
Paid subscriptions for the learning platform
Sponsorships through partnerships with trusted institutions supporting the cause
Audience interview
Business Model Canvas Exploration
Pitching Mentorship
60% increase in total unique visitors on their website
Obtained trust from collaborations that opened up new grants from partners
Startup
Value Proposition
Business Model
Most Helpful Process
IMPACT
C
Sports journalism
Podcast on healthy sports & lifestyle
Offline and online Sport Media events for the community
Freemium Podcast subscription
Sponsorships through partnerships with organizations and influential
Audience interview
Concept testing
Business Model Canvas Exploration
Pitching Mentorship
Podcast views exceeded target metric by 6,000 views
58% increase in bookmarks on Instagram
2.95% increase in TikTok content engagement
Startup
Value Proposition
Business Model
Most Helpful Process
IMPACT
D
A subdomain highlighting agriculture issues & information
Provide commodity pricing dashboard
Accommodates online forum to support controlled user-generated information
Membership
Advertorial
Audience interview
Community building
Concept testing
Business Model Canvas Exploration
322% increase of Facebook user engagement on their Facebook Posts
16x increase in audience reach on facebook
Startup
Value Proposition
Business Model
Most Helpful Process
IMPACT
A
Comic format publications
Space for local artists and comic creators to contribute in comic production through publication partnerships
Endorsement/paid partnerships
Community building for local artists to contribute in content production
Audience interview
Prototyping
Concept testing
Pitching Mentorship
2x growth of Instagram account followers
70,000% increase in reach from while testing their prototypes
Startup
Value Proposition
Business Model
Most Helpful Process
IMPACT
B
Online & Offline learning platforms to enable the community to take part in publishing contents on village issues
Initiating Village Information System as a database for village info & directory
Paid subscriptions for the learning platform
Sponsorships through partnerships with trusted institutions supporting the cause
Audience interview
Business Model Canvas Exploration
Pitching Mentorship
60% increase in total unique visitors on their website
Obtained trust from collaborations that opened up new grants from partners
Startup
Value Proposition
Business Model
Most Helpful Process
IMPACT
C
Sports journalism
Podcast on healthy sports & lifestyle
Offline and online Sport Media events for the community
Freemium Podcast subscription
Sponsorships through partnerships with organizations and influential
Audience interview
Concept testing
Business Model Canvas Exploration
Pitching Mentorship
Podcast views exceeded target metric by 6,000 views
58% increase in bookmarks on Instagram
2.95% increase in TikTok content engagement
Startup
Value Proposition
Business Model
Most Helpful Process
IMPACT
D
A subdomain highlighting agriculture issues & information
Provide commodity pricing dashboard
Accommodates online forum to support controlled user-generated information
Membership
Advertorial
Audience interview
Community building
Concept testing
Business Model Canvas Exploration
322% increase of Facebook user engagement on their Facebook Posts
16x increase in audience reach on facebook
The 10 startups were also asked to do a self-assessment before and after the program. The graphs below show the comparison between the assessment before and after the program. The results demonstrate how well each organization did in each area and the areas which need further improvement.
Before
Growth
Planning
KPIs
Business Plan
Metrics
Agile
Methodologies
MVP
Culture
Product/
Market fit
Validation
Problem
Awareness
OKR
Methodology
Prototyping
Culture
After
Openness
to failure
Openness for
improvement
Innovation
Monitoring
Audience
Involvement
Audience
Understanding
Pitch
Confidence
Pitch
Structure
Early-Adopter
Knowledge
At the end of the program, after conducting many synthesis processes, the Echos team and I have also put together a final report* with more details of the background, process, learnings and impact in the 16-weeks of accelerating these startups’ directions.
*The final report will be shared attached in this portfolio as soon as it is is officially released by Google.
Results
By starting form getting to know their audience better, the startups were then able to strategize which audience profile to target the right value proposition, how to sustain their enhanced offering without solely relying on advertisement models, and even leveraging the Indonesian “gotong-royong” spirit to fuel collaborations among startups and communities in the audience. Here are the four highlighted impactful result from the startups after the GNI Startups Lab program.
Learnings from the project
Learnings from the project
Communication approach for a diverse cohort
Communication approach for a diverse cohort
To both facilitate and have 1-on-1 mentorship sessions with 10 different startups was a new challenge for me. It’s due to the diversity where each of them has different pace, levels of experience, and even different privileges such as of accessibility to essential technologies, network and resources. From this circumstance, I’ve learned that adopting different communication approach for each startup was necessary especially during the mentorships. One startup may perceive messages better visually, others may need more help in provision of precedents, or even using analogies in explanations instead of using advance terms are helpful to some. It does require getting to know each of the startups personally as well as practicing switching between communication styles.
To both facilitate and have 1-on-1 mentorship sessions with 10 different startups was a new challenge for me. It’s due to the diversity where each of them has different pace, levels of experience, and even different privileges such as of accessibility to essential technologies, network and resources. From this circumstance, I’ve learned that adopting different communication approach for each startup was necessary especially during the mentorships. One startup may perceive messages better visually, others may need more help in provision of precedents, or even using analogies in explanations instead of using advance terms are helpful to some. It does require getting to know each of the startups personally as well as practicing switching between communication styles.
It’s not a one-program-fits-all
It’s not a one-program-fits-all
Initially the team intended to reuse workshop materials from previous GNI SL cohort (ie. India, Brazil) as much as we can. However, shortly into the program, we discovered given Indonesia’s context in, diverse community culture in different regions, different levels of accessibility to technology and information as well as language barriers, it was necessary to adjust the exercises, examples, and mentoring approach towards the 10 startups in Indonesia. This required language translations for specific terms, a more step-by-step approach and less philosophical examples when sharing principles and frameworks.
Initially the team intended to reuse workshop materials from previous GNI SL cohort (ie. India, Brazil) as much as we can. However, shortly into the program, we discovered given Indonesia’s context in, diverse community culture in different regions, different levels of accessibility to technology and information as well as language barriers, it was necessary to adjust the exercises, examples, and mentoring approach towards the 10 startups in Indonesia. This required language translations for specific terms, a more step-by-step approach and less philosophical examples when sharing principles and frameworks.
Kudos to the amazing Echos Team
for collaborating in crafting and facilitating with me in the workshop and mentorships:
Paulo Armi
Christine Gunawan
Erico Lisboa
Juliana Proserpio
for collaborating in crafting and facilitating with me in the workshop and mentorships:
Paulo Armi
Christine Gunawan
Erico Lisboa
Juliana Proserpio