Overview
The Core Design System created a consistent, flexible, and scalable framework for all of GE's consumer-facing digital properties. The goal was a system easy enough to use that it would actually unify the digital identity of a vast array of consumer websites — rather than becoming another document nobody follows.
My role
I worked closely with two other designers on the UX team in tight collaboration with the GE Global Brand team to define our design principles, look and feel, and the tone for how GE should present itself to the world.
- Assisted with content audits of GE's vast array of consumer websites.
- Performed competitive analysis of other major global corporations' digital footprint and design guidelines.
- Performed extensive research into digital style guides and design systems.
- Created designs for UI components and patterns.
- Created documentation and specifications for engineering.
- Assisted in writing design guidelines and documentation for consumption by other design teams at GE.
- Owned the master Sketch UI kit, sticker sheet, and design assets, optimizing them for consumption by the entire organization and by agency partners.
The system
Impact and results
- One identity across a fragmented estate. GE's consumer web presence spanned a large number of independently built properties; the system gave them a shared visual and structural language.
- Built for external consumption. I owned the master Sketch UI kit and sticker sheet and optimised them for use by agency partners as well as internal teams — the system had to work in hands I would never meet.
- Engineering could build unsupervised. Component specifications and documentation meant implementation did not depend on a designer being available to interpret intent.
- Grounded in evidence. Content audits across GE's properties and competitive analysis of other global corporations set the direction, rather than taste.