Ground News
The Challenge
Ground News had something rare: a product people genuinely believed in. But a mobile-first experience doesn't automatically translate to the web, and the stakes were high. Any loss of clarity or purpose would erode exactly what made users trust it.
That wasn't the only challenge. Desktop gave us room that mobile simply didn't. Features like the Blindspotter and My Media Bias were born on the web, proven there, and only then carried back to mobile. The web became a little laboratory, and that experimental mindset ended up shaping the product's direction in ways nobody had originally planned for.
Gallery
Designing for Depth
The web platform became the place where Ground News could stretch. With over 50 custom layouts, the work ranged from rethinking core UI patterns to building entirely new product experiences that hadn't existed before.
My Media Bias showed readers themselves rather than just the news, a full personal dashboard breaking down reading habits across bias, factuality, media ownership, locality, and topic. The Blindspotter surfaced stories covered heavily on one side of the political spectrum and barely at all on the other, and turned out to be one of those rare features that earns both viral attention and academic validation.
Impact
The web platform drove 10x subscriber growth and scaled to 150,000 daily active users. Ground News went on to be featured in Apple's "New and Notable" showcase, hit #1 on Product Hunt, and was personally recognized by Apple CEO Tim Cook at a developer roundtable. A 2024 academic study found that the Blindspotter measurably reduced political polarization among readers. 2.2 million downloads, a 4.71 star rating, and a mission that turned out to matter more than anyone anticipated.
