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The Athletic
Sports news and events
The Athletic leans on subtle visual state changes in its feed, including greying out the thumbnails of articles you've already read, so new content is easier to spot.
Key takeaways from 1 UX Bite
Read articles get black and white thumbnails, so unread content stands out as you scroll
A small state change cuts the effort of scanning a long, image-heavy feed
Read state is signalled through the image itself, not an extra label or badge
Often uses:
Last updated: 27/08/2026
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