Design Systems

Why This Is Its Own Story

I love design systems, unreasonably so. I’ve built and matured them across multiple organizations, and each one required a different kind of rigor, but the same underlying belief: a system isn’t just a component library, it’s shared language between design and engineering, and it only holds up if it’s documented well enough for someone else to use correctly without asking me.

Flagship 1: Figma Library & Accessibility (Vertex)

I led the design and architecture of a scalable, WCAG-compliant Figma component library, with accessibility built in from the start rather than retrofitted later. Design inconsistencies and downstream dev rework dropped by 60% across the teams using it.

Flagship 2: AI-Integrated System (Studio Designer)

I brought AI tools like Claude directly into the systems workflow, using visual variations to clearly signal fidelity level and facilitate discussion with stakeholders about what was still in flux. Cross-functional design revision cycles dropped by 40%, and the underlying library grew to 200+ reusable components, documented in Zeroheight and Storybook as a single source of truth.

Flagship 3: Building From Scratch (Temeda)

There was no existing system to extend. I had to get one off the ground entirely from zero, as the founding UX person on the product. That meant real build-vs-buy judgment calls, evaluating whether to adopt an existing system outright rather than build everything by hand. The resulting system supported 4+ distinct product lines and cut front-end rework by 20%.

Reflection

I’m genuinely excited about where AI-assisted prototyping is heading, though I stay cautious about it: a fast prototype is only useful if it’s still tested and verified properly. I also feel fortunate to have a front-end development background running through all of this. It’s shaped how I think about systems from the start.