Building a Scalable Design System Across 15 Domains
Building a scalable design system to unify 15 domains and 35+ designers across multiple enterprise applications. My Role: Led design strategy, component creation, and cross-team alignment while collaborating with engineers and product managers to ensure adoption. Impact: Reduced duplicated design work by 50% and accelerated new component implementation by 20–30%, improving consistency and delivery speed across applications. Scale: Adopted across 15 domains with 35+ designers and multiple enterprise applications serving thousands of users daily.
Problem
Fragmented UX & Inconsistent Products Guidewell Enterprise / Florida Blue had multiple applications across 15 domains with inconsistent UI patterns, branding, and workflows. Teams were duplicating work, slowing development, and confusing users.
Solution
Measurable Results: • Reduced duplicated work by 50%. • Accelerated new component implementation by 20–30%. • Aligned 15 domains and 35+ designers on a single system. • Improved visual consistency across multiple applications.
My Role
Leading Strategy & Implementation
As one of 4 core designers, I:
Defined the design system framework and governance.
Led alignment across 35+ designers in 15 domains.
Collaborated with product managers and engineers for adoption.
Maintained ongoing updates and documentation.
Visual Idea:
Diagram showing core design team at the center, connecting to 35+ designers and 15 domains
Research & Audit
Understanding the Problem
We audited all domains and applications, documenting component inconsistencies, workflow gaps, and duplicated efforts. Insights included:
Designers duplicated work across domains.
Handoff processes were inconsistent.
No single source of truth for design tokens or accessibility standards.
System Design
Principles, Tokens & Components
Design Principles: Clarity, accessibility, scalability, consistency.
Design Tokens: Colors, typography, spacing, motion.
Component Library: Buttons, forms, cards, tables, modals, navigation.
Documentation & Governance: Workshops, interactive Storybook, update process.
Collaboration & Adoption
Aligning Teams at Scale
Monthly workshops to align 35+ designers.
Living documentation to ensure adoption and compliance.
Iterative implementation with engineers for production-ready components.
Impact & Results
Measurable Results
Reduced duplicated work by 50%.
Accelerated new component implementation by 20–30%.
Aligned 15 domains and 35+ designers on a single system.
Improved visual consistency across multiple applications.
Reflection
Lessons Learned & Next Steps
Large-scale design systems succeed through governance, collaboration, and iteration.
Continuous feedback loops and workshops are key for adoption.
Future work: versioning, scaling to new products, and refining documentation for global teams.
