Bungalow Design System
Project
Bungalow Design System
Year
2023
Scope of Work
Building Design System
Role
Primary Owner - Senior Product Designer
"Bungalow" is Numerade's meticulously crafted Design System, a comprehensive ecosystem encompassing a rich array of design components, precise guidelines, and intuitive UI elements. It serves as the cornerstone for crafting consistent and visually harmonious user experiences across all Numerade products. From elegantly structured design elements to thoughtfully defined interaction rules, Bungalow empowers designers to seamlessly translate creativity into cohesive, user-centric designs that resonate with Numerade's brand identity.
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Problem
Before this project, Numerade operated without a structured design system in place. The absence of a design system presents challenges such as:
- Inconsistent user experience
- Inefficiency in resource utilization
- Lack of a brand identity
- Collaboration difficulties
- Scalability Issues
- Longer learning curves for new team members
- Potential accessibility oversights
- Complex maintanence
- Limited Innovation
One of the primary challenges was the inconsistency in UI elements. With multiple designers and developers working on various features, UI components were often recreated rather than reused. This resulted in redundant work and a fragmented user experience.
Additionally, scalability was a concern, as the platform needed a system that could support rapid growth and new feature development without compromising design integrity.
Another issue was the lack of documentation, which led to confusion and inefficiencies in collaboration. Without clear guidelines, past design choices were difficult to track and implement consistently.
Accessibility also emerged as a challenge, with some design choices not aligning with best practices for inclusive design.
Finally, ensuring cross-functional alignment was crucial, as designers, developers, and product managers needed to work from the same design standards.
Foundations
To address these challenges, we developed a comprehensive design system tailored to Numerade’s needs, ensuring a cohesive and scalable foundation for all future product development. We began by defining core design principles, emphasizing consistency, scalability, accessibility, and efficiency. The goal was to create a unified set of UI components and patterns that could adapt to future growth while ensuring an inclusive experience for all users.
Solution
Every brand possesses a component library, which consists of a set of reusable interface elements that align with their foundational file's theme. Within our design system, we make use of various component categories, including global, structural, content, data, and utility components. Precisely distinguishing between these classes of components is of utmost importance. Doing so ensures that design choices can be made efficiently and accurately, taking into account the specific context of each page.
Our library included essential components such as buttons, inputs, modals, and cards, each with predefined styles. We also established a grid system and spacing guidelines, and tested color palettes and typography for accessibility compliance.
Collaboration and implementation were also key to the design system’s success. We conducted onboarding sessions to familiarize teams with the new system. Developers accessed components from a shared repository, new designers leveraged Figma libraries for consistency, and product managers referenced the system for feature planning. By integrating the design system into existing workflows, we ensured its adoption and longevity.
Results
The implementation of the design system led to a 50% reduction in design and development time, as reusable components streamlined workflows. Improved brand consistency strengthened Numerade’s identity, providing a cohesive user experience. Higher accessibility compliance ensured that the platform was more inclusive, meeting industry standards. Additionally, feature rollouts became faster and more reliable, as teams could build new functionalities with confidence and consistency. Below are some screen grabs of the design system.
Key Takeaways
One of the key takeaways from this process was the importance of early stakeholder buy-in. Aligning leadership, product, and engineering teams from the outset facilitated smoother adoption and integration. We also learned that documentation is as important as the system itself—without clear guidelines, even the best components can be misused. Finally, continuous improvement was crucial. Regular audits and updates ensured that the design system evolved alongside the product, maintaining its relevance and effectiveness.
Building a design system for Numerade transformed the way the team approached product development. By creating a scalable, well-documented, and accessible system, we empowered designers and developers to work more efficiently while delivering a seamless and engaging learning experience for students worldwide.