Streamlining workflows and ensuring consistency with a design system
2023-2025
Startup
Web & mobile app
Context
SorareData helps tens of thousands of monthly active users excel in fantasy sports games by providing football player analytics and market data. By the time I joined, the team had spent the last two years focusing heavily on fast delivery to keep up with the expanding user base.
Challenge
This fast-paced approach, while effective in scaling the product, came at a cost. Both web and mobile apps began to show usability issues, and the design workflow became increasingly unstructured.
These issues were holding the team back and compromising the overall user experience. I had to find a way to improve design practices while continuing to deliver new features.
My approach
To maintain velocity while improving design quality, I took the initiative to build a scalable design system from the ground up.
I led the initiative from conception to adoption, structuring it as a flexible framework that could evolve with the product. Rather than imposing rigid guidelines, I introduced components gradually, prioritizing real needs to ensure adoption.
Outcome
Through strategic implementation and advocacy, the design system became a core pillar of the product development workflow.
Standardizing components accelerated design work, freeing time for deeper user research and iteration. It also significantly sped up front-end development while improving product quality on both mobile and web.
Lastly, thanks to token-based design, implementing dark mode was nearly effortless—showcasing the system’s scalability.
*According to a survey answered by all our six front-end developers
Building a successful design system:
a step-by-step approach
Building the design system was a collective effort that took time and dedication. Following are the key milestones of the process.
Reflections & key learnings
What worked well
Taking initiative and leading by example: Instead of waiting for approval, I demonstrated quick wins that immediately improved workflows, earning buy-in from both designers and developers.
Collaboration and advocacy: Ensuring that the design system addressed real needs helped drive adoption across teams.
Balancing structure with flexibility: Introducing components progressively made the system a natural part of the workflow.
What I would do differently
Initially, I spent too much time documenting components, assuming detailed documentation would drive adoption. However, I learned that most team members engaged with the system through usage rather than written guidelines.
Moving forward, I would adopt a just-in-time documentation approach, prioritizing concise, actionable instructions and expanding documentation only when repeated questions or misuse arose.
