Element Global Design System
Role:
UX Design Intern
Timeline:
July 18, 2022 - Sep 1, 2023 (1 Year 3 Months)
Team
Global Experience Design
Business Line:
Element Design System
Summary
Project Overview
$800K+
By efficiency gains
$200K+
Net annual savings
+65%
Design-token efficiency
-62%
Design maintenance
Context
Element Design System Overview
Built a scalable design system from the ground up to unify Johnson Controls’ global digital products. EDS provides a comprehensive library of components, patterns, and code snippets, accelerating speed-to-market and ensuring a consistent UX/UI language across web applications.
My Responsibility
0 to 1 Creation: Co-developed the global design system from scratch, now adopted by 34 design & 2 engineering teams, establishing a unified design language across the organization.
System Architecture: Built a comprehensive Figma UI kit and guidelines for 27 components and 6 patterns (incl. data visualization), reducing component creation time by 42%.
Operational Impact: Streamlined workflows to cut design maintenance by 62% and boost token efficiency by 65%, saving the company over $800K (achieving ~$200K net annual savings).
Adoption & Training: Partnered with cross-functional stakeholders to drive adoption; supported bi-weekly Figma training to onboard teams and enforce core system principles.
[UNDER NDA] This project is protected by confidentiality agreements, but I would be happy to walk you through my process and the outcomes in a private interview for more details
Probelm
Goal: Enhance market agility, and establish a cohesive UX across the digital ecosystem to amplify brand presence, increase product adoption, and accelerate development speed.
Context + Challenge
Context: While JCI established a physical product design language in 2018, it lacked a unified digital counterpart.
Challenge: Fragmented digital standards and siloed product teams led to a diluted master brand, with inconsistent UI components and patterns across the portfolio.
High-level Problems
Context: While JCI established a physical product design language in 2018, it lacked a unified digital counterpart.
Challenge: Fragmented digital standards and siloed product teams led to a diluted master brand, with inconsistent UI components and patterns across the portfolio.
Inconsistencies in Today's JCI Products
* Ambiguous visual representation for confidentiality
Goal & Vision
Design Side: Increase our market speed, share current digital best practices, and create a unified look & feel experience throughout the Johnson Controls digital ecosystem, leading to less training and increased product adoption.
Develop Side: Faster development time and reduced bug fixing.
Impacts: Other Benefits for Adoption
Accelerate Speed to Market
Faster design and Engineering cycles
Drive down defects through retested, reusable components
Amplify Brand Presence & Improve Consistency
Unify our products and offerings (one JCI)
Signal to the market our digital maturity growth
Increase brand equity, design becomes a differentiator
Increase Efficiency
Faster customer onboarding (Learn 1 product, gain familiarity with all)
Increase familiarity with field & support functions
Engineers, Testers, and Designers can move between projects
Raise design acumen and provide support across the entire org
