Building a Design System for

Diverse Websites

Building a Design System for

Diverse Websites

Status: Internally Deployed

Background

Solid Tree

Solid Tree

An internal design system to deliver unique customizable and reduce development times.

Boosting efficiency by eliminating repetitive tasks through reusable components, improving collaboration by establishing a common language, and saving time by accelerating web design workflows for faster time-to-market.

Problem

How does the company handle unique web design demands, navigating system limitations, delays, and client capacity?

Outcome

Created an Internal design system optimizing the design and development process, leading up to a 30% reduction in project development time.

Info

My Role

Research, UX, UI Design, Building the Design System, Testing, Prototyping

Project Length

3 Months

Team Members

1 Product Manager, 1 Designer, 2 Developer

Tools

Figma, Jira, Whimsical

Achievements

30%

decrease in the project's development timeline.

2x

estimated savings in revenue per project.

50%

reduction in design phase of the project.

Research Outcome

1. Design spec of each project took time to implement.

2. Lack of predefined set of rules and guidelines lead to confusion.

3.  Existing design systems did not meet the requirements of company's vision.

Research

Build Process & Design Strategy

We followed the lean UX process, focused on time-to-market and incorporated the most high-value UX activities in the process.

Understanding the Problem

Conducted extensive research of end-to-end process to understand pain points

01

Stakeholder Interviews

Gathered insights into the challenges faced during the project lifecycle.

02

Process Audit

Evaluated the existing design processes from project initiation to completion.

03

Design System Audit

Reviewed existing design systems to understand strengths and weaknesses.

"We have to ensure that we have some pre-defined guidelines and style to follow so we can quickly drag and drop components to build templates for our clients."

Raf, CEO - Solid Tree

Define

Problem Statement from Research Insights

Problem 1

How do we navigate project delivery challenges with limited company resources, causing bottlenecks and potentially revenue loss?

Problem 2

How do we reduce the implementation of design and development specifications?

Created List of Core Components

Prioritized Core Features for MVP

We followed the lean UX process, focused on time-to-market and incorporated the most high-value UX activities in the process.

Atomic Design Approach

Inspired by Brad Frost, I chose this method for its logical organization, aiding in efficient component management based on complexity.

Design

4 Point Grid System

The 4-point system is used for building a design system because it provides a simple and effective way to achieve visual balance, making layouts aesthetically pleasing and easy to implement.

System Architecture

The design system aimed to establish a adaptable architecture for seamless future changes. Collaborating with the lead developer, we devised a generic structure, breaking down elements to their most basic form

Organization

Organization

Brad Frost's approach was adapted.

States

States

Highly customizable buttons with several states.

Components

Components

One change here will impact all the components.

Tailwind Color System

Tailwind CSS's color system was chosen for the design system to streamline and standardize color implementation

Strategic Simplicity

We opted for generic names for our typography styles in the design system to enhance flexibility and scalability. This choice allows for easy updates and accommodates evolving design needs seamlessly.

Implementation

Comprehensive Evaluation

Leveraging our design system, we successfully executed a comprehensive website redesign for a client, resulting in an impressive 50% reduction in time-to-market, translating to substantial time and cost savings.

Triumph: 50% Time-to-Market Slash in Client Website Redesign

Learnings

As the sole Product Designer in the startup, the Design System has been instrumental in saving time. This case study delves into my evolving process and shares insights gained along the way, highlighting the system's pivotal role

Takeaways

01

Collaborating with Multiple Teams

I had to constantly coordinate between Developers and PMs for data asks and to make sure my design was feasible.

02

No One Size Fits All

The design system, tailored to our key clientele base, was crafted to better meet their diverse needs, acknowledging that a one-size-fits-all approach may not be suitable.

03

Fast Thinking & Decision-Making

Since it was a quick sprint, I was pushed to make quick decisions and learned how to make decisions based on the data available to me as well as intuition.

Say hi!

Say hi!

Get in touch with me for opportunities, freelance projects, design advice, or simply to say hello on zaidxdesign@gmail.com

Get in touch with me for opportunities, freelance projects, design advice, or simply to say hello on zaidxdesign@gmail.com

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