CHALLENGE

The design system existed only as a disconnected library. Components were rigid, often detached, and poorly documented, creating inconsistencies between design and development and slowing platform growth

GOALS & KPIS

• - Increase adoption of system components across designs.
• - Align design outputs with technical implementation.
• - Establish governance and documentation standards.
• - Improve accessibility compliance (WCAG AA).
• - Enable scalable dashboard creation across teams.

2.1

System Audit & Component Analysis

Instead of starting from design files alone, I audited:

• - existing platform interfaces
• - active components in production
• - design files used by teams

The goal was to understand the gap between design intent and technical reality.

This revealed a critical issue: the design library represented an ideal state, not the actual product.

2.2

Foundations & Accessibility Alignment

I re-established foundational principles:

• - color systems
• - typography hierarchy
• - spacing and layout logic
• - grid structures

Accessibility analysis showed that ~65% of components failed WCAG AA contrast requirements, so color systems were rebuilt to align with inclusive design standards.

2.3

Tokenization & Scalability

To avoid rigid components, I introduced:

• - Figma variables
• - token naming conventions
• - master components with scalable variants

This transformed the system from static assets into adaptable building blocks aligned with development constraints.

2.4

Governance & Enablement

Scaling the system required organizational change. I implemented:

• - branching workflows
• - review and approval protocols
• - documentation standards
• - recurring ceremonies for design system maintenance

This ensured consistency while enabling collaboration across designers.