Helping deliver high-quality digital experiences faster

In 2015, I joined Fair Trade USA as their first UX hire. Our small-but-mighty product team began establishing foundational processes and tools. Identifying an opportunity to 1) increase product quality and consistency and 2) save time for designers and engineers, I spent the next few years building the Fair Trade USA Design System as a side project.

In its early life, the site served as a UI component library. But digital experiences extend way beyond apps and websites — what about all of Fair Trade’s marketing emails, presentations, and PDFs? We added brand guidelines, a language guide, and MS Office templates. By then, my side project had four individual contributors. I served as the lead designer and engineer.

Today, the Design System is used by the entire organization and a growing list of external contractors.