Redefining the Education Design System
Designers and developers across CZI Education turn to the Education Design System to built their products with efficiency and consistency. In fall 2021, a rebrand was on the horizon and growth of the design system was critical.
While our initial design system was functional, it lacked the flexibility and user-centric features necessary to support rapid development. We set out to ambitiously increase the volume and quality our design system, culminating in a flagship release with the intent to markedly uplift our engineering speed, design excellence and brand ethos.
My Role
Product Design Manager / Product Manager
The Team
Systems Design, Brand Design, Engineering
Company
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI)
The Challenge
To lead a diverse design systems team through meticulous planning, strategic scoping, and intricate orchestration across multiple disciplines, all while ensuring that the brand’s integrity and design standards remain uncompromised.
Focus + Leadership
Leadership Buy-in + Team Growth
Championed the need to invest in systems to support the rebranding efforts which included identifying strengths and gaps within the team, hiring contractors, and rapidly expanding our team.
Strategic Planning
Developed a comprehensive six month roadmap and org strategy in-line with objectives, all while gaining alignment from leadership and the team at large.
Unified Orchestration
Implemented effective project management frameworks to simultaneously coordinate efforts across EDS design, Brand and engineering disciplines, ensuring smooth transitions and clear communication at every step.
Unlocking Design Systems
With a rebrand on the horizon, the organization lacked a solid strategy for transitioning from a product with minimal brand identity to a cohesive visual language. This pivotal moment presented an opportunity to enhance our team's strength and fully demonstrate the capabilities of design systems, positioning us to pave way for this organizational shift.
Key Focus Areas
This flagship release paved way for a transformative shift in our design culture and overall adoption of the system. During this time, I worked to establish key operational frameworks to ensure we were building a strong base, exceeding operational outcomes and continuously connecting that back to adoption goals.
Laying the groundwork
Simplification through an OOUX Inventory
Identified vital design patterns via detailed OOUX (Object Oriented UX) inventory analysis within the initial 2 weeks. This revealed deep platform insights, fostering unity among elements. Impact transcended design systems and influenced simplification across the entire product.
Semantic Design Tokens
Increasing system scalability and flexibility, foundational token discovery ensured readiness for future branding needs. Shift from our single-tier to the new 3-tier tokens clarified color mapping and together, established intentional naming that bridged design and engineering communication.
Established Collaboration Models with Product
We tackled the challenge of defining roles between systems and product teams. Our approach and process for collaboration were key. Clarity on team interactions led to boosted efficiency and transparency in our efforts.
“With EDS Paper, I Spend less time designing from scratch and more time solving problems through design.”
— Senior Product Designer, CZI
Results
3X Component Growth
Achieved a 3X scaling of our design system components that are responsive and reusable.
Increased Velocity
The revamped system empowered engineers to transition to coded prototypes in just one-third of the former time, drastically accelerating development cycles.
Tiered Token Structure
Deployed a tiered token system for future-proof theming. Fostered design-dev alignment and system resilience through this shared language.
Reusable + Responsive Templates
Implemented reusable layouts for the Education ecosystem. A vital stride towards a responsive and unified learning platform.
Revised Documentation
Revamped documentation site with extensive usage guidelines for internal users. Strengthened onboarding via enhanced 'getting started' section.
Crystalized an EDS Playbook
Crafted Education Design System Playbook to anchor team purpose and amplify system support awareness.
Welcome to /paper
Promoting the work to build excitement and engagement while raising the bar for internal communications.