Building a Strategic Gateway for Open-Minded Debate

About the Project

Open to Debate (formerly Intelligence Squared US) is a leading nonprofit platform dedicated to fostering open-minded, balanced debate on the most important issues of our time.

Following their rebrand, they needed more than a visual refresh, they needed a strategic digital foundation that clarified:

• Their mission and methodology
• Their credibility and heritage
• Their new positioning
• And their primary content destination: Substack

The project was completed in an accelerated 2-month timeline, structured into four focused phases:

I. Discovery & Strategy

We began with a comprehensive Discovery & Strategy process, delivering a detailed strategy deck outlining:

• Competitive and category benchmarks
• Audience personas
• Key user journeys
• Messaging hierarchy
• Proposed information architecture
• Homepage content structure
• Cross-platform integration strategy

This phase clarified a critical insight: the website was not the final destination, it was a strategic gateway.

The Core Challenge: Designing for Exit

Unlike most websites, where the goal is to maximize time-on-site, Open to Debate had a different objective.

They wanted users to:

1. Land on the website
2. Quickly understand who they are
3. Build trust and credibility
4. Then transition to Substack, where most debates, newsletters, and engagement occur

This required a carefully engineered experience.

The website needed to:

• Be compelling but not overwhelming
• Build authority without content overload
• Create clarity, not friction
• Guide users outward at the right moment

We designed intentional frictionless exits through:

• Persistent Substack CTAs
• Modular homepage blocks
• Clear debate previews with outbound pathways
• Reinforced cross-platform messaging

The result: a site that performs as a high-conversion introduction layer.

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II. Translating Strategy into Structure

We developed a streamlined IA designed around clarity and conversion.

The architecture prioritized:

• Mission-first storytelling
• Clear credibility signals
• Modular content blocks
• Multiple engagement pathways

This structure ensured that first-time visitors could orient themselves within seconds.

III. UX/UI Design

With the IA validated, we moved into:

Defining the Visual Direction

With the information architecture established, we partnered closely with the Open to Debate team to define the visual direction that would bring the strategy to life.

The goal wasn’t simply to modernize the brand, it was to align the design with their mission: fostering open-minded, balanced debate in a polarized media landscape.

Together, we explored how the platform should feel:

• Authoritative, but accessible
• Editorial, but institutional
• Serious, but human

We defined a visual system rooted in:

• Mission-forward typography
• Structured, editorial layouts
• High-quality debate photography
• Clear, repeatable call-to-action patterns
• A balanced, credibility-driven color hierarchy

Every design decision reinforced trust, clarity, and intellectual rigor, ensuring the website felt like a natural extension of Open to Debate’s debates, Substack presence, and live events.

This shared direction became the foundation for the high-fidelity prototypes that followed.

Wireframing

• Layout prioritization
• Content hierarchy
• CTA positioning
• Modular homepage logic

Then into:

High-Fidelity Prototyping

• Editorial-forward design language
• Strong, rallying hero messaging
• Balanced typography for intellectual credibility
• Modular debate previews
• Integrated Substack and YouTube prompts

Every design decision reinforced the central strategic principle:
Build authority. Then guide outward.

IV. Implementation & QA

The final phase focused on:

• Development of a modular, scalable CMS structure
• Flexible homepage blocks for frequent updates
• Clean editorial layouts optimized for readability
• Strategic CTA repetition across pages
• Performance optimization
• Cross-device QA
• Accessibility considerations

The backend was structured to allow the Open to Debate team to easily:

• Update featured debates
• Highlight upcoming events
• Add press mentions
• Adjust homepage priorities

All without compromising clarity.

What Impact Looks Like

In just two months, we delivered:

• A fully reimagined brand-aligned website
• Clear articulation of mission and methodology
• A simplified user journey aligned with real behavior
• Modular infrastructure for long-term growth
• Strategic alignment between site, Substack, and YouTube

Most importantly, Open to Debate now has a digital foundation that:

• Introduces their mission with clarity
• Establishes authority instantly
• And intentionally moves audiences toward deeper engagement

This wasn’t simply a redesign.

It was the strategic alignment of brand, platform, and ecosystem.