Background & Business Needs
🧠 UX Objective
Create a centralized system within Figma to streamline access to designs, prototypes, and documentation—enhancing cross-functional collaboration and reducing friction for non-design stakeholders.
Field Research & Design Challenges
🧭 Problem Framing
The Challenge
As the design system grew and more features were shipped, locating specific design flows or prototypes became time-consuming—especially for PMs, QA, and other non-designers unfamiliar with Figma’s file structure.
Pain Points
• 🔍 Difficulty finding the right version or flow (especially in large files)
• 💬 Repetitive requests in Slack or meetings asking for links
• ❌ Errors in QA due to viewing outdated prototypes or flows
• 🤯 PMs and stakeholders feeling overwhelmed by Figma
🔧 My Role
• Initiative owner
• Designed and built the system directly in Figma
• Coordinated with Design, Product, and QA for feedback
• Created structure and guidelines for adoption
UX Solutions
in Action
💡 Solution Overview
A structured, scalable “Design Hub” experience inside Figma, functioning like a mini internal website:
1. Central Design Hub Home
• Global entry point divided by platform or product area
• Interactive links with hover states give a real “site” feel
2. Section-Specific Landing Pages
• Each product area (e.g. Payroll) links to its own index
• Easy access to key flows, prototypes, and design files
• Think of it like a table of contents with anchor navigation
3. Embedded Flow Cards
• Each scenario (e.g. “Run Payroll”) begins with a design card
Includes:
• 🧾 User story
• 🔗 Prototype
• 👤 Designer & PM
• ✅ Status
4. Visual Flow Maps
• Each section shows all the steps as a visual journey
• Arrows guide users through interactions and states
• Useful for QA testing, demos, and stakeholder reviews
🧩 UX Wins
✅ Reduces time-to-access designs
✅ Empowers non-designers with clarity and confidence
✅ Promotes accountability and documentation
✅ Enables better async collaboration
✅ Reduces design-team interruptions
🧑🤝🧑 Cross-Functional Collaboration
This wasn’t just a design project—it was an ops + collaboration project:
• Worked closely with PMs to understand their needs
• Partnered with QA to validate how flows are tested
• Created onboarding for new designers to ensure file consistency
• Advocated for this system in design critiques and product meetings
🧭 Outcome & Impact
• Widely adopted across teams
• Became the default way to navigate active design work
• Helped new hires onboard faster
• Improved QA accuracy and PM independence
🔁 Reflection
This internal system taught me the power of designing the design process. It’s not always about pixels—it’s about systems that scale and support how teams work. As a design leader, creating clarity and reducing friction is one of the most powerful ways to deliver impact.
