Best in Class is what we call our series of carefully chosen, rigorously vetted flagship shopping guides. The goal of each Best in Class post is to help you, the reader, find exactly what you’re looking for, whether it’s a brand-new bidet or a protein powder that’s not sludgy or a sleeper sofa that isn’t completely hideous. And though we cover a breadth of topics, the methodology for coming up with these product picks is standardized across our eight primary categories — Beauty, Home, Kids and Babies, Kitchen, Style, Tech, Travel, and Wellness.
Our writers are each deeply embedded in their categories (and you can learn more about each of our staffers and their areas of expertise here). But they are also journalists, with access to a vast network of experts in their fields who are ready to answer questions about what works, what’s a myth, and what stands the test of time. However, we should note that “expert” doesn’t always mean doctor or scientist — even though we do interview lots of them. We want to talk with people who have a particular set of authority and knowledge, like professional chefs on the pots and pans they use for everyday cooking, stylists on the no-show underwear they recommend to clients before they hit the red carpet, and even Park Slope parents on understanding what stroller is rugged enough to make it through Prospect Park. The process of writing any Best in Class guide starts with a series of interviews with these vetted sources, to get a lay of the land, start to narrow down a list of products to call in and try out, and understand what we should be looking out for while testing.
Our writers will also add more products to the list of ones to test based on their own research and personal experience — even if no expert has explicitly recommended it to them. Is there a rug that no interior designer recommended but we saw in Laila Gohar’s living room? Is there a new face wash on the market that Gen Z is buying in hoards? Have Lance Bass and Samantha Irby both raved about the same water bottle, when we asked them about what they can’t live without? We want to know if these work, too.
From there, our writers get to testing the products. The testing process varies from product to product and story to story. Our kitchen and dining writer might test dozens of chef’s knives and sheet pans at home over the course of a few months, while our furniture writer might visit showrooms all over New York to sit on couches. We will always explicitly outline our methodology in the introduction of our posts. And this testing process is ongoing, so we’ll frequently update our Best in Class guides when we learn about an updated model or discover a new product.
After all that work is done, we’ll write our guide. Here, we’re breaking down each section of our Best in Class guides, so you can better understand why we’ve shown our work in this particular way.
What We’re Looking For
Here, our writer will highlight the nitty-gritty product features that readers should care most about, based on their hands-on experience and interviews with experts. The details we feature will depend on what product we’re writing about — maybe it’s the material or the active ingredient or the size — but we will always endeavor to highlight the specs that would be most helpful for you, as a reader, to understand how to make the best purchase decision. You can think of this as our criteria, the ruler against which we’ll be measuring all products in the piece.
Our Picks
Every Best in Class guide will have a “best overall” pick. This product is the one that our writer believes is truly best in class, out of everything that they’ve tested, reported, and researched, and it should be the one that best matches the writer’s stated criteria, as outlined in “What We’re Looking For.” We always endeavor to make sure our best overall pick is accessible. That means keeping price in mind, along with merchants and availability. So even if a bespoke pair of Japanese selvedge jeans are the very best, it doesn’t make sense to name that the best overall pick if they’re never in stock or take five weeks to ship or cost twice as much as anything else in the guide. If we are recommending the most expensive item as the best overall, we will always be sure to explain why it’s worth the splurge.
We’ll almost always include a “best (less expensive) overall” pick, and if we do, we’ll explain how it compares to our best overall pick.
We also know that each shopper has a different budget and personal needs, so from there, our writers will also identify other top products in the category, with specific subheads.
Our Experts
This section will appear at the end of all Best in Class guides, listing every expert the writer spoke with while reporting this guide — even if they are not directly quoted in the piece.
The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
