Gina Bhawalkar

The design industry is booming. Our recent research, “The Design Industry, 2021,” estimates the size of the global design industry to be $162 billion and growing. But the increasing recognition of the importance of design creates a challenge for design leaders: How do you effectively establish, scale, and evolve a high-performing design practice that reliably […]

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, in many cases making digital the only channel through which customers could interact with brands, Forrester saw a significant uptick in inquiries related to accessibility, mostly from companies getting serious about accessibility for the first time. The pandemic served as a wake-up call not just about the importance of digital […]

I speak with companies weekly about the growing importance of digital accessibility, and prior to 2020, those conversations almost always started with this question: “How do we make our sites and apps accessible so we don’t get sued?” It’s a fair question — after all, the number of web and mobile accessibility lawsuits has increased […]

To give you insights on the state of experience design (XD)/user experience (UX) teams, my colleagues and I, who cover design and UX, run an annual survey. In our most recent one, 61% of respondents reported that their design team impacts strategic decisions, for example. And I’m excited to share that our 2020 State Of […]

A design system continually evolves — it’s not a project a design team can complete and move on from. In fact, a design system requires an ongoing time and resources investment just like a customer-facing digital product.

The two companies' recent actions highlight the difference between placing accessibility front and center versus treating it as an afterthought.

What do consumers expect from their banks in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? We interviewed 40 customers of 14 banks to find out.

There’s a new buzz phrase in the air — “open source design.” What is it? It’s a “remix” (to borrow a term from Figma) of the open source software movement’s commitment to sharing and collaborative validation and improvement of software source code. What Are Examples Of Open Source Design? You don’t need to look far to find companies embracing this idea by: Making design systems public. Most design teams are […]

When I speak with companies that are new to digital accessibility, they almost always start the conversation with some version of this question: “What do we need to do to comply with accessibility standards so we don’t get sued?” They’re right to ask, because web accessibility lawsuits are proliferating — there were over 2,000 in […]

Discover what federal agency websites excel at and where are the biggest areas of opportunity.

Fifty percent — that’s the percentage of design professionals who say their company now uses a design system according to Forrester’s Q3 2019 Global State Of Design Teams Survey. And a whopping 74% of those survey respondents say that their companies are using a design system more than two years ago. Over a third even […]

Only a tiny fraction of websites get accessibility right. Learn how to ensure your online experience doesn't freeze out would-be shoppers.

When you hear “Domino’s” and “supreme” in the same sentence, you could be forgiven for thinking we’re talking about the “Supreme” on its menu — a pizza loaded with pepperoni, bacon, beef, sausage, mushroom, pineapple, and onion. But no, I’m talking about a bad business decision — which any company with a website or app […]

Having a design system is now table stakes for companies that want to scale design; drive a consistent, seamless customer experience; manage design debt and technical debt; and free up designer time to solve new challenges — not reinvent the wheel. But can a design system also ensure that the experiences you create are inclusive? […]

When we design for the “average” person, we design for no one. One of my favorite books, The End of Average, opens with the story of how, during World War II, the US Air Force faced a high death rate — pilots were unable to control their planes, which led to crashes, often fatal. The […]

A recent study on design maturity from InVision revealed something really interesting: that design team size is not predictive of a design team’s maturity. That is, it’s possible to dedicate a lot of headcount to design but still see limited benefits on business outcomes. Not only did they find there’s not a correlation, but they […]

Design leaders often ask me: “How do I make the case to grow my team?” “How do I prove the impact that better design has on my organization?” “How do I elevate the impact of design?” The answers to all three questions come down to having a repeatable process in place for linking design investments […]

Yesterday, my LinkedIn feed lit up with posts from individuals and companies stating their commitment to digital inclusion. Why? Because it was Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), a day aimed at getting everyone talking and learning about digital accessibility and inclusive design. Why do we need a day dedicated to this? Because many companies are […]

Mobile apps have become the touchpoint of choice for millions of people to manage their finances, and Forrester regularly reviews those of leading banks. We just published our latest evaluations of the apps of the big five Canadian banks: BMO, CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank, and TD Canada Trust. Overall, they’ve raised the bar, striking a good […]