Redesigning CNN’s Markets Experience: From Utility to Habit
CNN’s Markets platform has long served as a trusted destination for real-time market data. However, in an increasingly competitive market and with a declining audience, it became evident that a redesign was necessary to better serve emerging investors, news generalists, and loyal financial readers. The new Markets experience represents a multi-phase transformation: modernizing the UX, integrating with core editorial workflows, and delivering a deeper, more contextual financial experience that brings data, content, and user behavior into sync.
My Approach
The 2023–2024 Markets redesign was anchored in product thinking and user-first design. We aimed to replace a static, legacy experience with a modular, responsive system that worked across devices and entry points. I focused on elevating utility into a recurring behavior—by unifying pre-market, after-hours, and intraday updates into one dynamic, narrative-aware hub. This system was designed to scale from lightweight touchpoints on CNN articles to deep-dive quote pages and live stream integrations.
Vision and Innovation
Our vision was to build the Markets Hub into a go-to destination—more than a utility, a habit. The refreshed experience combined data, editorial storytelling, and monetization strategy under one scalable platform. Key innovations included a restructured homepage with global coverage, a new Fear & Greed Index, integrated quote search, and contextual educational layers designed to demystify finance for emerging users. Market data became accessible within the CNN ecosystem—not siloed outside it.
Identifying Unique Challenges
Before the redesign, only 1–2% of CNN’s audience visited Markets pages, and 84% of those visits came via search or direct navigationCNN Business - Market D…. The old experience was not mobile-friendly, poorly integrated, and hard to monetize. Additionally, the existing user base skewed heavily toward an aging male audience. We needed to create a platform flexible enough for new users and familiar enough for longtime ones—all while preparing for significant vendor migration and technical debt reduction.
Resolving Complex Problems
We consolidated and sunset over a dozen legacy pages (like Bonds, ETFs, and Sector pages), reducing friction and improving discoverabilityMarkets 2023 - Year in …. We migrated to Stellar, CNN’s in-house design system, enabling modular content blocks, streamlined ad footprints, and integration with business performance tools. Every touchpoint—charts, quote modules, contextual explainers—was evaluated for performance, UX clarity, and monetization opportunity.
User-Centric Design
The redesign catered to three core personas: emerging investors seeking clarity, news generalists seeking market context, and longtime readers seeking trustworthy data. We introduced mobile-first layouts, launched real-time data feeds, and embedded educational cues where users needed them most. Contextual content (e.g., "Why is this stock moving?") was built into quote pages, along with simplified visuals, watchlist features, and integrated tools like TipRanks and Magnifi.
Meeting Audience Needs
The new CNN Markets platform meets users where they are—whether they're reading a breaking business story, checking a stock quote, or preparing for market opening. We emphasized discoverability, recirculation, and habit formation: integrating data across articles, newsletters, and homepages. With international support, climate-forward investing indicators, and a more personalized experience in the works, the platform is evolving to match global user expectations.
Detailed Pages and Features
Markets Homepage: A modular command center with live global index tracking, calendar events, and sentiment analysis.
Pre-Markets & After-Hours: Dynamic summaries of what’s moving markets before and after the bell.
Quote Pages: A complete redesign featuring real-time charts, analyst insights, news context, and shareholder data.
Fear & Greed Index: Fully owned, mobile-optimized, and rewritten with user-friendly language.
Watchlists (in development): Personalized stock tracking with real-time alerts and story integrations.
Contextual Tools: Educational insights and market explainers baked directly into the experience.
Results
While the project is ongoing, early performance metrics point to a successful evolution:
Stable Core Audience: Despite significant architectural changes, daily market visits remained steady (~215k/day) throughout 2023.
Higher Engagement Among Core Users: Average time on page exceeded 3 minutes, with top-performing templates reaching over 8 minutes.
Improved Monetization: Quote pages alone are projected to grow from $42K to over $278K YoY in revenue, with significant performance marketing integrations underway.
Broader Reach Potential: New surface integration (homepage, articles, DLE, newsletters) expands market data visibility to CNN’s 100M+ audience—up from a historic 1% overlapCNN Business - Market D….
Conclusion
CNN’s Markets redesign is more than a visual facelift—it’s a strategic shift toward creating habitual, high-trust financial experiences for a broader, younger, and more diverse audience. By modernizing infrastructure, aligning editorial and data workflows, and focusing on user behavior, we’re turning market data from a utility into a daily touchpoint. The work continues, but the foundation is strong: built for relevance, reach, and long-term impact. The redesign promises increased user engagement, improved monetization, and a broader reach potential, all of which will contribute to the long-term success of CNN Business.
