2016 was a banner year for the Withings blog. And now, if you’re reading this, you can see we’ve decided to make 2017 even more vibrant, starting with a shiny new face for the blog.
Here at Withings blog HQ, we are so busy crafting new stories, we barely had time to look up. But when we did, we saw we’d been busier than we realized. In 2016 we racked up:
When it came to new authors, in 2016 we were honored to welcome a wealth of original pieces from Penn Jillette, Jeanne Simpson, and Lynn Marie Hulsman. Our content brought you everything from AcroYoga to the History of the Thermometer, and we are also particularly proud to say we published the World’s First Sexy Blood Pressure Article. Oh and we also amped up our success stories, celebrity profiles, and coverage of crazy new fitness trends, most of which you can now find in our Get Inspired section.
In case you were wondering, below you’ll find the top 3 articles of the year — clearly people want to get healthy, they’re often hungry, and above all, they love their canine companions:
We’re also particularly proud of using data to bring you timely coverage of events served up with a healthy dose of original insights. A few highlights included:
An investigation into whether Snowzilla slowed people down
A deep dive on the Olympic Games
Figuring out if the Pokémon Go craze got people moving more
Discovering if people really were losing sleep over the US elections. Spoiler alert: they were.
So, what’s new here, then?
We worked hard on the redesign of the blog. We decided to improve the reading experience, and bring new bells and whistles that we hope, will draw you in even more.
1. Improved look and feel
If you know our devices and apps, you know we think design matters. We were proud of the content we brought, but it was high time to rethink how and what we brought to our readers.
The main improvement is the reading experience. Articles are now more beautiful, and easier to read. And you can know where you are in the article at any time, via the reading progression bar on top.
2. More juicy data stories plus new ways to make content translate into action
Because making sense of data is in our DNA, we have added clear and colorful cards called Withings Facts. Each one highlights insights that are based on data gathered from the Withings community. When you click on a Fact card, you’ll see the data behind it. And if you feel it’s relevant, we’ll even go further and suggest some actions you can take. For example, if you are reading on a mobile device, the card below allows you to directly set a new daily step goal in the Health Mate app.
Another new feature? Our How-to Articles. Since we know how important it is to help and accompany you throughout your journey in the Withings community, these handy tutorials can help you get the most out of Withings products and applications.
Now that we’re ready to celebrate, can we have our Oscar moment?
Sadly, there’s no ceremony and no gold statue given out for redesigning a blog. But if there was, it would surely go to our own Angela Chieh. Somehow, when not managing and crafting original data stories for us, she found the will to lead the blog redesign, and make it what we all hoped it would be.
Finally, we’d like to say a simple but heartfelt thanks to all of you for reading us. We strive to make this blog a must-read, and we promise to offer up even more exclusive stories. So stay tuned — there’s much more to come in 2017.
And, before the music plays us off, we’d like to add that we’d love to hear what you think. Do you have a story idea? Want to just say howdy? Please do. You can leave a message on our Facebook page or ping us on Twitter anytime with the hashtag #NewWithingsBlog.
