DESIGN KIT

The problem

Despite our entire team of designers using a single unified design system, our product reflected a lot of design inconsistencies that were noticeable and compounding. These ranged from minor spacing errors, to inconsistent font usage, to even button and CTA variants. This caused a variety of compounding issues including:

• Worsened design quality

• A fragmented user experience 

• Maintenance debt for engineers supporting pattern variants

Taking initiative

As a side project in my own time, I built out and published a stickersheet consolidating the most commonly misused and duplicate components across our platform.

Scaling up

The stickersheet grew into a shared design kit, complete with component variants, documentation, and version tracking aligned with upcoming release cycles. We developed a community of practice with a small group of designers that met weekly to:

• Field questions on specific components and patterns

• Align on design decisions across product areas

• Document best practices for future use

What had started as an individual effort grew into a community dedicated to improving our design quality, which has had a monumental impact on our platform in the long term.