Unity Design + Code System
I created the Unity Design + Code System at Nielsen, a set of design principles, accessibility guidelines, components, patterns, code, and documentation to advocate standards and authenticity.
Download an excerpt from the Unity System Guide (PDF, 2.7MB) here.Unity was built for both developers and designers, integrating design with code using InterplayApp to automatically sync our documentation, design tokens, Figma components, and Storybook.
As a member of the Design Foundations team, I mentored and guided 10+ other designers, product managers, and developers to accomplish ethical, impactful and innovative work. I empowered 30+ colleagues to learn and apply best practices, implementing comprehensive globalized, localized, and inclusive design and development solutions.
The Unity Design System enabled the entire company (40,000+ people in 55+ countries) to quickly deliver world- class experiences using Nielsen's complex data systems and data visualizations.
Product designers were our users
I sent out a survey to all the designers using our Figma kits, and asked them to rank what patterns and components were most important in their work. Then I bumped those tasks up in our timeline. I also had regular check-ins with product designers and owners to find out what updates might be on the roadmap.
Developers were also our users!
Even though we all agreed that we needed a "single source of truth", Storybook wasn't sufficient for what we needed. Also, we didn't want to alarm our international teammates with a zillion commits while they were sleeping and we were working. We did research for secure, robust solutions and thankfully found InterplayApp.
Atlas Design System
When I began working on the Atlas Design System, I gathered examples from dozens of tangled, legacy products, all with different visual designs and different tech stacks. I identified recurring patterns and created a matrix of what features were shared, and then used that to set requirements and MVP. From there I focused on building common recipes that were code-agnostic, using a fresh design.
A fragmented world
Many products came from acquisitions, and not everyone was used to working with UX outside of “make it look clean.” Just finding out which products did what was a huge task.
How should it work?
I built detailed prototypes to demonstrate complex interactions like typeahead search, accessible sliders with snap options, and sophisticated data selectors.
