Orchard Research

Introduction

The brief was direct Orchard Research covers stocks, crypto, tech, and commerce with the editorial weight of a publication like the Financial Times, but for a younger, digitally native audience who wouldn't tolerate a slow or dense reading experience.

Role

I worked on this as a Product Designer responsible for the end-to-end visual design and design system, from the homepage through to the writer's dashboard and admin pages.

The Problem

Financial media built for African markets barely existed and what did exist felt like an afterthought. Readers looking for serious crypto, stock, and market coverage had two bad options: dense, generic finance sites that felt built for an older audience, or scattered, unreliable sources with no editorial standard at all.

Orchard needed to be neither. The platform had to carry the credibility of a publication like the Financial Times with live market data, in-depth research, multiple writers publishing consistently while working for a reader who is young, mobile-first, and has zero patience for a slow or cluttered experience.

Opportunity

Designing this was a chance to rethink what "trustworthy" financial design actually requires. Credibility didn't have to mean dense and dated; it could mean clarity, speed, and a visual language that felt current.

User Experience Highlights

Selected views from the final design.

Future Directions

Orchard Research is designed to grow with its audience. The foundation is a flexible design system, a scalable writer workflow, and a platform that balances usability with speed which leaves room for what comes next: deeper research tools, more interactive data, and new ways for readers to engage with markets as the platform's readership expands.