During my first month at Aunt Bertha, I created the first set of style guidelines based on the existing system. Building up from that base, I continued to expand and unify the pattern library across the system. I developed a source file for all our team’s design collateral, sketch libraries, fonts, and branding.
I transitioned our team beyond static mocks, for the first time incorporating interactive prototypes (in Invision) into the set of deliverables that we were to provide for the engineering team. This also meant that we could test with users behaving more naturally. The team moved from showing a print-out and asking “what would you do on this page”, to giving them the mouse and letting them explore.
For our customer-admin facing pages, the engineering team switched to a React/Material framework. Building on Material, I started a new collection of modules specific to our context and the users we were serving. I installed a shared sketch library that syncs across all of the designers’ computers’.
I redesigned the user-facing parts of our site to present a unified look and feel with our newer Material pages. I also wrote brand guidelines and practical documentation for on-boarding new users to our design system, as our team has continued to grow.