PROBLEM
We worked on many different products made by different teams. This process is not at all like soldiers marching on orders from a commander, but rather like an evolutionary process that creates diversity in technology and design decisions.
To improve user experience and development efficiency, we created common elements and rules for all applications.
To improve user experience and development efficiency, we created common elements and rules for all applications.
SOLUTION
After analysis, we found it's not cost-effective to migrate everything to one stack and rewrite third-party engines ourselves. The main arguments for creating a design system were users suffering from inconsistent solutions, designers creating the same elements differently, and developers maintaining multiple variations of the same button.
We went through each product, updated our knowledge about their development plans and legacy systems to create a common ground. It was a complex and time-consuming process involving multiple meetings and many hours in Figma.
We went through each product, updated our knowledge about their development plans and legacy systems to create a common ground. It was a complex and time-consuming process involving multiple meetings and many hours in Figma.
RESULT
We created the Umbrella design system by combining all the backend diversity under a single frontend "dome". It's important to note that while developing a design system is not a cure-all solution for enterprises, it's a necessary foundation to build upon. Each team has the option to deviate from recommendations, but decisions will be more thoughtful and likely enrich the knowledge base and best practices.