Subcompact Publishing: A Streamlined Approach for the Digital Age

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital media, we’ve witnessed a constant cycle of disruption. From zip drives to CDs, and CDs to DVDs, technology relentlessly refines and replaces its predecessors. This pattern extends to publishing, where digital tools have opened up vast possibilities. Yet, amidst this abundance, a crucial question arises: have we overcomplicated digital publishing?

Imagine a vast wooden table, laden with every digital publishing tool imaginable – infrastructure, typography, platforms, and devices, all broken down to their core components. Stepping back to survey this landscape, what emerges as the most sensible, user-centric approach?

The Sensibility of Subcompact: Learning from “The Magazine”

When “The Magazine” first appeared, it resonated instantly with a sense of inherent logic and clarity. It felt like the quintessential mobile-publishing format – devoid of unnecessary complexities, focused purely on content. It was a straightforward app, prioritizing functionality over superfluous features, a concept that might even be considered “boring” by those chasing constant novelty.

But have we truly seen this approach before? In a discussion with Clayton Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor renowned for his work on disruptive innovation, Joshua Benton of the Nieman Journalism Lab highlighted a key insight: “The perception of the incoming disruptors is that they are low quality, and therefore not really worth paying attention to.” It’s precisely these seemingly “low quality” disruptors we should be examining closely.

Parallels in Automotive Innovation: The Subcompact Car

To understand the potential of this streamlined approach in digital publishing, we can draw a compelling analogy from the automotive industry. In 1967, Honda introduced the N360, a kei car or light car, essentially a Subcompact vehicle.

Imagine Honda engineers, faced with the totality of automotive technology, asking: “What’s the simplest, most effective car we can build with what we have?” Honda, relatively new to car manufacturing, took a motorcycle engine and placed it within a Mini Cooper-inspired frame. The result was a reliable, affordable car with 31 horsepower and impressive fuel efficiency – 39.4 miles per gallon.

This subcompact car was a concept that American automotive giants, entrenched in legacy and focused on larger models, wouldn’t have considered. Honda, unburdened by such legacy, dared to be bold. In software development terms, the N360 was the “Minimum Viable Car,” a subcompact offering that prioritized essential functionality.

While the N360 didn’t reach the US, its successor, the N600, did, paving the way for the Honda Civic and subsequent success. As Christensen, Skok, and Allworth noted, “They started with cheap subcompacts that were widely considered a joke. Now they make Lexuses that challenge the best of what Europe can offer.” Honda gained market share by providing a subcompact car that met the needs of many consumers.

This leads us to a crucial question for the digital age: where are our subcompact publishing solutions?

The Oversaturation of Complexity in Digital Publishing

Printed books and magazines offer an intuitive user experience. The interface is inherently obvious and linear. Digital counterparts on tablets and smartphones, however, often fall short. They are far from intuitive, frequently requiring tutorials to explain basic navigation.

Why did digital publishing interfaces become so convoluted?

The “Homer” Approach to Digital Design

Perhaps we’ve fallen into the “Homer Simpson car design” trap. When asked to design his ideal car, Homer’s approach was additive, not reductive. He piled on features – extra horns, a soundproof bubble – simply layering more onto existing car designs.

In product design, adding features is the easier path to perceived innovation. The more challenging, and often more effective, approach is to re-evaluate the product in the context of the present, which may be drastically different from the environment in which it was originally conceived.

The Rise of Indigenous Digital Publishing

Traditional publishing houses have faced disruption for years. However, a significant shift is occurring: a new publishing ecosystem, independent and unburdened by legacy systems, is emerging.

Previously, digital publishing startups were often founded by either technologists lacking content expertise or traditional publishers lacking technological understanding. What was missing was a bridge – technologists who understood infrastructure and product development working collaboratively with content experts.

But the landscape is changing. The content of established publishers is becoming less central as a wave of new content creators emerges. As Christensen, Skok, and Allworth point out, “With history as our guide, it shouldn’t be a surprise when new entrants like The Huffington Post and BuzzFeed, which began life as news aggregators, begin their march up the value network. They may have started by collecting cute pictures of cats but they are now expanding into politics, transforming from aggregators into generators of original content, and even, in the case of The Huffington Post, winning a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting.”

We see this trend evolving further with even more recent examples.

MATTER: A New Model for Digital Journalism

MATTER, launched in 2012 by Bobbie Johnson and Jim Giles, exemplifies the quality of publishers emerging in this new space. Raising $140,000 via Kickstarter, they built a platform focused on high-quality, paid journalism.

MATTER described itself as “not quite a website, it’s not really a magazine and it’s not exactly a book publisher either. Instead, MATTER is something else — a new model for high-quality journalism… our focus on selling individual long-form stories for consumption on any device… could be a sustainable way of paying for the hard work required to produce the best reporting.” This description perfectly encapsulates the liminal space digital publishers occupy.

MATTER’s approach, offering distraction-free web editions, eBooks, and community engagement, highlights a focus on building value beyond just content. They represent the leading edge of a new wave of digital publishers.

Breaking Free from Skeuomorphic Business Models

Skeuomorphism, often discussed in design (like digital camera shutter sounds or page-turning animations), also impacts business models. Publishers like MATTER retain the best of traditional publishing – editorial ethics, storytelling – while adapting content and distribution models for the digital realm. However, business skeuomorphism, applying old-medium business decisions to new mediums without critical evaluation, remains prevalent, especially in digital magazines.

Consider digital magazine covers in Newsstand:

These covers are often unreadable, a consequence of business decisions and legacy infrastructure, not intentional design. A print magazine’s structure – monthly issues with numerous articles, bundled and shipped together – is dictated by printing and distribution constraints.

Reimagining Digital Publishing: Moving Beyond Print Constraints

Why do digital magazines often adhere to print schedules, article counts, and cover designs? Because it’s easier to maintain existing workflows. However, this legacy-driven approach hinders the creation of truly digitally native magazines. Tablet and smartphone usage patterns differ significantly from print consumption.

Emerging digital publishers have a key advantage: they aren’t bound by multiple mediums. They can focus solely on digital, potentially considering print anthologies later to enhance their brand presence.

What are the defining characteristics of “digitally indigenous” publishing?

A Subcompact Publishing Manifesto

Subcompact Publishing prioritizes simplicity and user-friendliness.

It demands minimal to no instructions. It’s immediately understandable. Editorial and design choices are tailored for digital consumption and distribution. It’s about stripping away the unnecessary and focusing on core functionality. Subcompact Publishing is the digital equivalent of the Honda N360.

Key qualities of Subcompact Publishing include:

Small issue sizes (3-7 articles per issue)
Small file sizes
Digital-aware subscription prices
Fluid publishing schedule
Scroll-based navigation (initially)
Clear navigation
HTML-based formats
Integration with the open web

These qualities are interconnected and designed to create a streamlined, efficient, and user-centric digital publishing experience.

Small Issue Sizes: Enhancing User Experience

Limiting the number of articles per issue creates a sense of “edge” in the digital space, making the content feel more manageable and less overwhelming. Smaller issue sizes also naturally reduce file size and simplify navigation.

Small File Size: Prioritizing Speed

Speed is paramount for a positive user experience in digital products, including magazines. Optimizing for speed, and thus a fluid user experience, is crucial once a minimum viable product is established. Small issue sizes contribute directly to smaller file sizes and faster download times.

Reasonable Subscription Prices: Reflecting Digital Costs

Digital subscription pricing should reflect the lower overhead of digitally native products, not the need to subsidize legacy print operations. Digital-first publications have the advantage of not having to support outdated infrastructure.

Fluid Publishing Schedule: Adapting to Digital Rhythms

Smaller issue sizes enable more flexible publishing schedules. Instead of a daily deluge or a monthly overload, a weekly cadence of a few high-quality articles often feels optimal for digital content consumption, creating a predictable yet manageable flow.

Scroll (For Now): Simplicity over Complex Pagination

While not inherently negative, complex pagination adds significant engineering overhead and can complicate user navigation. For subcompact publishing, simplicity is key. Removing pagination streamlines navigation and simplifies the user’s mental model of the content. Poor pagination is far worse than no pagination at all.

Clear Navigation: Intuitive User Interface

Navigation should be effortless and consistent. Subcompact Publishing applications shouldn’t require tutorials. Like a printed magazine, interaction should be intuitive and grounding. Limiting article count and removing pagination inherently simplifies navigation.

HTML(ish) Based: Portability and Future-Proofing

Using HTML (or formats like epub or mobi) ensures portability and future-proofness. HTML’s widespread compatibility across devices minimizes engineering effort, as most devices have built-in HTML rendering engines.

Open Web Integration: Discoverability and Shareability

Content published in a subcompact format should also have a presence on the open web. A public web address is crucial for discoverability and leveraging the web’s inherent sharing mechanisms.

Publishing for “Jobs to Be Done”

Clayton Christensen’s “jobs-to-be-done” theory emphasizes understanding consumer needs beyond just product features. People “hire” products to solve problems. In digital publishing, we must consider the “jobs” readers are trying to fulfill.

A common “job” is filling short pockets of downtime, like waiting in line. Smartphones are “hired” for this purpose, offering entertainment or information.

Emerging Digital Publishing “Jobs”

Many digital publishing “jobs” remain unmet. A significant one is a seamless way to subscribe to and pay for content from websites, authors, or publishers directly. While RSS exists, it lacks a user-friendly, consumer-facing interface. A better, more user-centric RSS implementation could address this.

Subscription services should provide quick, lightweight, predictable, reliable, and locally cached content. Users aren’t just paying for content, but for a seamless reading experience with these attributes.

A Simple Editorial System for Subcompact Publishing

Let’s envision a basic editorial system for subcompact publishing.

This system would have three columns: “Issues,” “Articles,” and “Article Text.” Clicking an issue displays articles; clicking an article shows the text. A “Publish” button completes the interface.

Where does this system publish to?

Publishing to the Open Web and Tablets

The first destination is the open web, crucial for discoverability. Web optimization should prioritize reading experience, with clear calls-to-action for app downloads or email subscriptions, but without compromising readability.

Tablets and smartphones are more challenging than web publishing. They are often used offline, and smartphone users prefer quick content access. The open web isn’t always ideal for offline access or speed.

For tablets, particularly iOS, a seamless content delivery mechanism is needed.

Leveraging Newsstand: An Underutilized Tool

Apple’s Newsstand, often overlooked, can be this delivery mechanism. Despite its reputation for hosting cluttered digital magazines, Newsstand, when utilized correctly, becomes a background downloading, offline-friendly, cached RSS reader with built-in subscription capabilities. It effectively addresses the “job-to-be-done” of seamless digital content delivery and subscription.

“The Magazine”: A Subcompact Publishing Success Story

This brings us back to “The Magazine.” Marco Arment, its creator, emphasizes its departure from traditional magazine models: “I don’t consider The Magazine to be a member of “the magazine industry” any more than blogs are members of “the publishing industry”. Those terms evoke the old and established, while this is the new and experimental.”

He highlights the unnecessary “baggage” of print traditions that weigh down many digital magazines. Marco’s “The Magazine” is a prime example of a tablet-native subcompact publication.

Small issues (4-5 articles)
Small file sizes (download in seconds)
Affordable subscription ($1.99/month)
Seamless subscription via Newsstand
Bi-monthly publishing schedule
Scroll-based navigation
Intuitive navigation
HTML-based

UI and UX Simplicity: The Essence of Subcompact

“The Magazine” app is remarkably minimalist. The main reading screen offers only three options:

Scroll to read
Share article
Access Table of Contents (via “hamburger” button)

The UI is so simple that instructions are unnecessary. It mirrors the intuitive usability of print publications.

Issue and Navigation Simplicity

Small issue sizes simplify the Table of Contents. With only a few articles, users intuitively grasp the issue’s scope, making complex navigation unnecessary. The ToC is a simple, edgeful list.

Smart Link Handling: Footnotes for the Digital Age

“The Magazine” handles links elegantly, displaying annotated previews at the bottom of the screen (or in pop-overs on iPad), functioning as digital footnotes. This creates a focused reading environment, free from accidental clicks and navigational confusion.

Newsstand Integration: Seamless Delivery and Subscriptions

Newsstand’s key functions for “The Magazine” are background downloading and paid subscription management. Background downloading ensures new content is available almost instantly and cached for offline reading. Newsstand also simplifies payments, handling transactions through Apple, building user trust.

Open Web Presence: Extending Reach

“The Magazine” also maintains a minimal web presence optimized for reading and app downloads.

While currently not offering full article text online, A/B testing full vs. truncated content could reveal increased sharing without impacting subscriptions, potentially expanding reach and readership. Users are likely drawn to the streamlined reading experience offered by “The Magazine” itself, beyond just accessing individual articles.

“The Magazine” exemplifies subcompact publishing in a handful of screens.

The Clarity and Disruptive Potential of Subcompact Publishing

The clarity of “The Magazine” is compelling, particularly because it’s the type of application established publishers often dismiss. Christensen notes that disruptive technologies “underperform established products in mainstream markets. But they have other features that a few fringe (and generally new) customers value. Products based on disruptive technologies are typically cheaper, simpler, smaller, and, frequently, more convenient to use.”

Subcompact Publishing aligns perfectly with these disruptive characteristics. Combining this minimalist approach with quality journalism, like MATTER’s, holds immense potential.

Why don’t publications like MATTER utilize Newsstand? The primary barrier is the need for iOS app development, a costly and complex undertaking for many publishers who lack software expertise. Marco Arment, a programmer, was able to create “The Magazine” because he recognized Newsstand’s potential and understood its capabilities, insights gained from his technical background.

This highlights two key points:

Programmers are now central figures in publishing disruption.
The publishing ecosystem is ripe for disruption.

Marco Arment, a self-motivated programmer and user of his own products, exemplifies the ideal disruptor. He operates outside traditional publishing structures, creating podcasts, magazines, and reading applications using simple tools and minimal interfaces.

Technological awareness is essential for future publishing disruptors, even for those who don’t consider themselves technologists.

Embracing Disruption

We are on the cusp of a wave of publishing tools and systems that are independent of legacy incumbents. As Paul Graham notes, startups often “start by serving some small but important market that the big players ignore. It’s particularly good if there’s an admixture of disdain in the big players’ attitude, because that often misleads them.”

With increasing tablet adoption, 2013 marked a potential inflection point for digital publishing, particularly for non-incumbents. Subcompact Publishing, utilizing existing tools like Newsstand ingeniously, offers a path forward.

It’s time to embrace this disruption. Let’s examine the digital publishing landscape, identify the core components, and ask: “What can I build for subcompact publishing?”