image coming soon
Consistency Team and Library Lead
Project
Product portfolio consistency
Role
UX and Visual Design Lead
Responsibilities
Lead a team of designers to identify and solve gaps in systems guidance and inconsistencies between offerings. Published guidance documentation and a library of reusable components.
Challenge
While our offerings are based on IBM’s Carbon Design System, Carbon’s guidance is not always robust enough to cover the specific needs of individual offerings.
Goal
Identify and fill guidance gaps, and provide extended guidance specific to our offerings to promote consistency at our more granular level.
Team
Within our business unit, I led a team of 3-4 designers to define component and pattern guidance specific to our use cases.
Process
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Prioritize
We had a backlog of issues that team members could contribute when they noticed inconsistencies or the need for further guidance. We prioritized what to work on based on team needs.
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Gather & Refine
We gathered screen shots and use cases from across our portfolio as a reference base for our guidance. Through team syncs and working sessions, we drafted guidance to address team needs.
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Feedback
Once we had drafted written and visual guidance for our use cases, we had stakeholders participate in a Mural activity to gather feedback. We then took the feedback and reiterated.
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Publish
Once approved by stakeholders, we finalized all documentation and specs, and published assets on our team website. When applicable, we created Figma components in our library.
Example guidance
Modal sizes (when to use each size)
Date and time formatting for localization
Empty states illustrations and text for tight spaces
Field heights and spacing
Condensed and collapsing header versions for page density
Images are unavailable due to copyright restrictions.
Deliverables
Figma component library
Written guidance complete with dos and don’ts, best practices, and example images.
Team website with guidance organized by component or pattern, and links to all deliverables and reference materials.
Outcome and takeaways
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Gained additional experience working with design systems and applying my skills in identifying and solving visual and interaction consistency issues.
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Gained leadership experience and eminence
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