Use Case | 2024
Design System Scalability
INDUSTRY
Medical Devices
DURATION
12 Months
ROLE PLAYED
UX Design Manager
and Project Lead
Navigating Software Evolution with AWS Criteria
Introduction
In the ever-evolving landscape of UX design, we faced a critical challenge: we needed to both update our design system to make it scalable and migrate to a modern software solution that would accelerate localization and streamline prototyping. However, the question remained—could we achieve both goals simultaneously while ensuring seamless support for the existing products in iOS and Android? The solution was achievable, although challenging.
Outcome
Our journey involved a complete reimagination of our design system for all our platforms, focusing on developing new components while refining legacy elements to create a more scalable and maintainable structure. Initially, we did not realize that our approach aligned with AWS Criteria, a widely adopted migration framework.
This transition streamlined localization, improved time-to-market for different products, enhanced accessibility compliance, and increased team efficiency by 20%. The migration effort involved two key initiatives: refactoring over 2,000 screens, and implementing a structured approach to ensure seamless adoption across all teams, including stakeholders, designers, developers, and testers.
Process
Leading the transition from a legacy system entrenched in outdated components presented both challenges and opportunities. We structured our approach around the following stages:
Assessment, Prioritization, and Path Determination:
We meticulously evaluated the business impact, estimated the scope of work, and identified associated costs and risks. This thorough analysis enabled us to chart a migration strategy that ensured continuity while minimizing disruption. Given the complexity of the transition and the simultaneous development of new features, we adopted a modular approach, allowing for adaptability throughout the process.
Refactoring:
Overhauling the design system required a comprehensive analysis of multiple workflows to identify and retain essential elements while determining which aspects to simplify and standardize. This approach ensured component consistency and prevented unnecessary complexity.
The effort extended beyond just the component library—it encompassed the refactoring of over 2,000 screens to ensure a cohesive and maintainable structure. Guided by scalability and consistency, we carefully prioritized which features to sunset and which patterns to retain while unifying variations to enhance maintainability. This was especially critical for a team of 15+ designers working across multiple platforms. By emphasizing responsiveness, we ensured cross-platform consistency and future-proofed the system for evolving product requirements that could impact the unified design framework.
Retirement:
Running two parallel systems during the transition was necessary but resource-intensive. A phased approach, which involved gradually deprecating legacy elements while integrating deliverables using the new library, enabled us to mitigate risks effectively. This ensured a smoother transition without compromising operational stability, particularly important to keep regulatory compliance.
Retention and Revisitation:
By prioritizing critical assets, we reduced transition complexity while optimizing resources for higher-impact areas. Products, features and documents scheduled for deprecation within a 12-month window remained untouched, minimizing the burden of a full-scale manual migration and allowing focus on modernizing long-term components.
Validation:
Rigorous quality assurance was fundamental to our migration strategy. Our testing team validated each screen for visual fidelity, content accuracy, and component standardization. This meticulous approach, though time-consuming, was essential in preserving UX integrity and ensuring stakeholder adoption.
Navigating this migration amidst ongoing work introduced unforeseen challenges, but through strategic planning and leadership, we maintained productivity while successfully executing the transition.
Conclusion:
Conducting this transition in-house enabled us to remain flexible and expand our scope as needed without significantly increasing costs. Beyond ensuring a smooth transition, this initiative laid the groundwork for content automation and integration with enterprise platforms. As the UX Manager and project lead, I prioritized fostering the team’s collaborative strength and saw firsthand the impact of applying the right methodology and a forward-thinking approach. This strategic move positioned our product teams for sustained growth and readiness to embrace emerging market paradigms.