Garmin Design System
I co-built and owned Garmin’s first Design System for web-based products. I drove the global adoption of 150+ scalable, accessible components for consistency and efficiency across 10+ products including Garmin.com, B2C eCommerce, and B2B software, and 6 business verticals (Auto OEM, Marine, Aviation, Fitness, Wellness, Outdoor).
I evangelized the Design System across engineering, product, marketing, creative, and global teams, provided training to up-skill leadership, and drove Design System adoption across 15 teams. I led cross-collaboration with engineering for an efficient match of Design System components to multiple technical systems.
I led the integration of internationalization/localization and traveled internationally to train global teams for Design System adoption across 35 countries. I also pioneered accessibility-first design for WCAG 2.2 standards at the component level.
Color components in the Design System
The Design System included 150+ components
The Problem
Before the Design System, Garmin.com and all of Garmin’s web-based products were designed and developed as one-off projects from scratch, significantly wasting resources and time. Across 6 business verticals, 35 countries, and countless teams, each product was built in a separate system, visually inconsistent, and nearly impossible to maintain. Despite being a large international company, there was no brand unification, consistent product experience, workable processes, or scalability.
The Impact
The Design System significantly reduced resources, prevented rework, and improved the bottom line for Garmin’s #1 source of revenue, Garmin.com. As the Design System owner, I drove process improvements, scalability, and brand consistency, and ultimately delivered effective, consistent end user experience.
My Role
I led the creation of the Design System in collaboration with another product designer. The Design System was created strategically to drive global adoption, educate leadership, and pioneer accessibility. I built the Design System to support consistency across 10+ web-based products including B2C, B2B and SaaS, 6 business verticals, 15 teams, and multiple technical systems.
I trained multiple teams, educated leadership, and evangelized adoption across product, engineering, marketing, creative, and global teams. I wrote robust documentation, requirements, and training decks for mass distribution. I set up Figma libraries, design tokens, and templates for team use. I collaborated with engineering to mirror each Design System component with the equivalent code base to quickly move designs to development. I also collaborated with engineering to develop efficient processes, utilizing a Jira Kanban board and supporting Agile workflows.
Global base container component
Examples from the Design System
Card Component
Button Component
Tile Component - Specs
Feature Card Slider Component
Vertical Navigation Component
Forms Component
Educating Leadership
Without UX leadership to drive the Design System, I advocated for the significance and effectiveness of utilizing a Design System for streamlined user experience and cutting business costs by streamlining workflows. I presented a comprehensive overview of the Design System to multiple levels of leadership to promote education about the efficiency and effectiveness of a Design System in meeting business needs, effectively utilize talent resources, providing a better experience to our customers, and significantly driving sales.
