For the last 6 years, I have been focused on building and evolving a design system.
Getting Started
In 2018, I joined a top ten US bank as a consultant to help build a design system and component library for the new online banking website. At the time, there were no centralized design standards, which led to wasted time and effort as designers constantly reinvented the wheel. Smaller design sheets were passed around within individual teams, and the parts of the site that were built lacked consistency. Our team began by auditing the existing site and connecting with designers to verify which standards were being used universally. We documented what we knew and made note of the gaps. We then facilitated working sessions with designers across teams0. to align on other design foundations and global design patterns. I built out a master Sketch file with symbols and started releasing the new documentation and symbols via Invision’s Design System Manager.
Adding a Governance Process
I collaborated with other designers on my team to plan a process for the governance of the design system. I designed a presentation on the governance process for stakeholder buy-in, and we vetted it with all the teams using the system. Once approved, we launched governance meetings with a steering committee of design representatives from each team using the design system. I often facilitated the governance decision-making meetings to ensure that the design system was evolving to meet the needs of all the design system users.
Evolving the Design System
I created a script for user testing and facilitated testing on the system with new designers to learn how we can improve the layout, structure, and content. We also did a competitive analysis of other design systems to identify ways we could improve our system. I collaborate with engineers to build out accessible components for the component library. Daily I connect with product owners, designers, and other partners like content and accessibility to understand their needs for changes and additions to the design system.
Supporting Users
We maintain a help desk chat channel to assist designers in using Sketch symbols and understanding design system documentation. Weekly, I facilitate open office hours where we connect with designers to review designs, answer questions, and share design system news like governance decisions and release information. I created a process and presentation deck to onboard new users of the design system so they understand how to find documentation, how to use symbols, and how to contribute to the design system.
Current State
After four years of working on the design system, I was hired as a full-time employee to lead the designers on the team. We currently have almost 1000 Sketch symbols and 80 coded components available for our users. After two years, we identified the need to improve our governance process. We interviewed users and steering committee members to gather feedback that informed some of the changes that were made to the overall process. Today we support over 12 product design teams and over 100 development crews.
Highlights of my six years of design system experience:
Started an enterprise design system from scratch
Collaborated on the creation of a governance process for a design system
Facilitated work sessions across teams to align on foundations and new components
Facilitated governance (steering committee) meetings
Evangelized the design system
Created an onboarding process and deck
Developed processes to support design system users
Maintained a Jira backlog and follow an agile process for our work
Strategized roadmaps for the design system evolution
Documented processes of the team
Designed the approval process for prototypes before they are developed to ensure alignment with the design system
Collaborated with engineers on building and testing new components for the component library
Developed new ways to connect with designers and share and learn together
Interviewed and developed the skills of designers on the design system team
Strategized approach for migration to new tools for design and design docs
Planned and created a design token set