Supporting Independent Writers with Bulletin

Overview
At a time when more writers were seeking creative independence, Facebook saw an opportunity to support them — not just with distribution, but with meaningful tools for monetization, growth, and ownership.

I led the product design effort for Bulletin, Facebook’s first standalone platform for independent writers. From pitch to MVP launch, I helped shape a product vision that balanced creator needs with the strategic goals of Meta’s broader content ecosystem.

My Role
As design lead, I was responsible for:

Defining the end-to-end user experience across content creation, consumption, and monetization

Collaborating with product, engineering, and editorial to shape core features and guardrails

Translating ambiguous strategic goals into concrete, user-first design systems

Driving the vision from zero-to-one, including pitch materials, prototypes, and launch design

Designing for Creation
We focused on giving writers professional-grade tools with none of the complexity:

A clean, distraction-free editor optimized for longform writing and quick publishing

Smart formatting and media embeds with minimal configuration

A branded writer profile that felt personal and premium

Writers needed to feel ownership — not just over their words, but over their presence. So we prioritized customization, clarity, and ease-of-use.

Designing for Consumption
Bulletin readers needed an experience that felt modern but familiar — optimized for both loyal subscribers and casual browsers:

Mobile-first reading with elegant typography and dark mode support

Follow and notification features for building a direct audience

SEO-optimized article structure to support external traffic

We also ensured seamless distribution via Facebook itself — enabling writers to instantly share their work across the Facebook ecosystem.

Designing for Growth & Monetization
Bulletin wasn’t just a blog tool — it was a business engine. Key features included:

Paid subscriptions with simple pricing tools

Analytics dashboards to help writers understand their audience

Native support for email newsletters — to turn followers into loyal subscribers

Our goal: empower creators to own their relationship with readers and earn real revenue — without needing to stitch together third-party tools.

Impact
MVP launched in record time, with a handpicked group of writers including Malcolm Gladwell, Erin Andrews, and Tan France

It drove meaningful engagement across Facebook’s content surfaces

Bulletin define Meta’s early strategy around creator monetization and publishing platforms.
In my last work at Facebook before moving on to PepsiCo, my team carved out a vision sprint around new consumption and creation functionality and enhanced monetization and subscriber engagement. I’ve included some of the artifacts from that vision sprint here.

Why It Matters
Bulletin wasn’t just about longform content — it was about independence. We gave writers a platform they could grow with, monetize on, and call their own. And we proved that Meta could play a meaningful, respectful role in the creator economy.