Case Study · Fintech · B2B · Design Systems
From Pattern Sprawl to One System: A Fintech Design System
Led a design system consumed across 5 product squads — v1 in 8 weeks plus a governance model that kept it alive.
Problem: Five squads were rebuilding the same components in slightly different ways, with no single source of truth and fragile handoffs.
My role: Product Designer leading the design system end to end, with the PM, Tech Lead and front end engineers.
Decision: Audit first, then build from scratch with a token first, dark first architecture shaped around dense financial data, and grow adoption through coaching instead of enforcement.
Outcome: Version 1 shipped in 8 weeks and was used by 5 product squads, with weekly reviews, a contribution flow and a deprecation process that kept it alive.
Tokens, foundations, core components, and a lightweight contribution flow for a fintech platform with dense, dark-first workflows.