YBS Design Systems

Design System. Strategic. UI Audit. Advocacy.

Laying groundwork for a building society's design system

Year:

2023

Timeframe:

~ 12 months

Tools:

Figma. Sketch. Jira. Confluence. Storybook.

Category:

Design Systems. Strategic planning. Design Advocate

How I laid the groundwork for Yorkshire Building Society's first unified design system by moving teams to Figma, auditing every product and building the case for change across a 70-person digital team.

Challenge

YBS was in the middle of a major digital transformation. More than 70 people across six squads were designing in silos. There were scattered libraries, no shared guidelines, and work split between Sketch and InVision. I joined as their first Design System Manager and started on my own. I quickly found that the hardest part wasn't the components. After earlier attempts had stalled, senior stakeholders were sceptical. The design system needed a champion before it could have a library.

Solutions

Like any other UX product, I began by listening. I ran interviews, surveys and stakeholder mapping to understand the teams, products and pain points. From that, I built a three-phase roadmap across four quarters, mapped in Figma and tracked in Jira, so every squad could see where we were heading. Next, I led the move from Sketch and InVision to Figma. I restructured files and projects, and ran training sessions and workshops on new ways of working. To keep momentum, I gave design system presentations, shared regular updates and set up a Confluence wiki as a single source of knowledge. Finally, I carried out a full UI audit across YBS's web and mobile products. It documented usability, accessibility and consistency issues, with prioritised recommendations. Final outcomes for this project included: 1. A documented strategy and roadmap. 2. Full migration of design files scattered from Sketch and Invision into Figma. 3. Training and engagement sessions for diverse team members. 4. A comprehensive analysis and multi-theme UI inventory across platforms.

Looking forward

While the design system didn't reach full implementation during my tenure, it established crucial foundations for YBS's digital future. Most importantly, it sparked valuable discussions about stakeholder communications and collaboration in digital product development. This project reinforced that successful design systems are as much about people as they are about technology. The experience highlighted the importance of balancing technical expertise with change management skills, and the need to build trust while driving innovation. Implementing a design system is a marathon, not a sprint. Success comes from persistent advocacy, clear communication, and a quick adaptation based on business needs and constraints. My main takeaways were: 1. Advocacy is part of the craft: My technical foundations were solid, but I underestimated how early I needed to sell the value of a design system in business terms. Now I start with the story, not the library and continue improving my communications skills. 2. Regulated organisations move at their own pace: Security, risk and financial processes create dependencies that a roadmap has to absorb. I now build those constraints into scope and estimates from day one.