Forbes Research
Designing the system behind a multiplatform research initiative.
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My Role
As Design VP, I owned the creative strategy and direction, set the design principles and system, and led the team that brought it to life across landers, articles, reports, social, video and events. This case study walks through how it came together: the opportunity I framed, the principles I set, the system we stress-tested, and the platforms we launched on.
The Opportunity
Forbes had spent years building a custom research practice for clients, anchored by its C-suite communities. The opportunity was building a Forbes-owned research practice on top of that same audience, across themes that mattered to both readers and advertisers: the CxO Study, sustainability, HNW and luxury, AI, and small business.
Delivering a premium experience across platforms required a sophisticated design system, bold, consistent, and scalable enough to become the connective tissue across every surface.
Content Strategy, In Partnership
An initiative this scope wasn't a design project alone. I shaped the content strategy in close partnership with Romy Oltuski, who led the editorial team, Ross Gagnon, who led the research team, and Josh Robinson the SVP of the Studio. Together we aligned on which insights would anchor the work, what editorial angles would carry it to audience, and how the design system needed to flex to support both. The principles I'd set for design worked because the content strategy was built alongside them.
Design-Driven Content Experiences
Forbes Research reached its audience across five surfaces, each designed to meet readers where they actually engaged on Forbes.com, in shared reports, across social, at live executive summits, and through video.
A Scalable Modular System
Three principles drove the design system I set for the team.
Premium: Our readers were C-suite executives and business decision-makers, an audience that engaged with premium experiences daily across brands they trust. Design was how Forbes Research signaled rigor, sophistication, and purpose.
Dynamic: The system used motion, rich imagery, and intentional interaction to highlight key data points to create a bold reading experience, one designed to hold attention against everything else competing for it.
Scalable: The system had to scale across design, editorial, research, social, video, and events teams, all working against fast-paced deadlines. Coherence under that pressure was the goal, and the design system was built to deliver it.
Under my creative direction, Janet Yin, the Art Director on my team led the style guide and component library execution. Together with the design team we pressure-tested every decision against production reality.
I led a sprint with 15 designers, with each one producing a data visualization using the emerging visual language. The sprint surfaced where the system needed to bend and revealed new interactions. The output became the foundation of the data viz library, a repeatable system the team could strategically apply across every research surface that followed.
Data Visualization Design Sprint
Final Data Visualization Library
