Work in Progress: Because a unified digital experience doesn’t just happen

By Rick Poulin

Partnering with one of Canada's largest airlines, our mission was clear: unify the experience across all platforms. The airline's digital presence was fragmented—different navigation structures, inconsistent color codes, variations on similar designs—it lacked cohesion. Our goal was to bring everything into alignment, and the Product Thinking Playbook was going to help us do it.

Our first focus was standardizing visual elements. The design team created a cohesive look and feel, but the real game-changer was extending these efforts into the engineering realm. We needed to ensure that the components designers used were identical to those developers implemented. This was crucial for a consistent user experience.

We developed a robust design system with reusable components, akin to giving everyone the same set of Lego blocks. This approach promoted brand consistency and reduced redundancy, streamlining the development process.

To ensure design intentions were seamlessly translated into development, we provided the same?

building blocks to both designers and engineers. If a designer used a modal dialog, that very same modal dialog was available to the engineer to drop onto a page. They didn't have to debate or even test for colors and spacing, allowing product teams to focus on functionality rather than color codes and pixel alignments.

Automation played a critical role in our strategy. We introduced automated testing and continuous integration to enhance reliability and efficiency. This allowed us to quickly identify the impacts of changes and communicate them to the teams.

We discovered that many of the airline's existing methods limited its ability to adapt quickly. Instead of addressing this immediately, we partnered with product teams to facilitate the adoption of the design system, helping to retrofit legacy designs for consistency and aiding engineers in migrating their presentation layer, which we're targeting for this summer.

The unified design system ensured consistent brand identity across all digital platforms, crucial for maintaining the airline's reputation and enhancing user trust. By utilizing a shared component library, we significantly reduced development time and effort, enabling faster rollouts of new features. This efficiency allowed for a more agile response to market demands and user needs, while integrating accessibility features into the design system proactively ensured compliance and improved the user experience for all customers, particularly those with disabilities.

Through this project, we fundamentally transformed the airline's approach to digital development. By aligning design and engineering, we set the stage for continuous improvement and sustainable growth. Leveraging the Product Thinking Playbook, we standardized digital elements, streamlined the development process, and enhanced the airline's ability to adapt to user needs and market trends. We kicked off a process to improve brand cohesion and reduce development costs over time, recognizing that design system adoption is an ongoing journey rather than a one-time effort.

Product Thinking Playbook Tactics and Techniques Used:

• Design System Implementation: Creating a robust design system with reusable components to ensure consistency and reduce redundancy.
• Cross-Team Collaboration: Facilitating close collaboration between design and engineering teams to maintain a unified vision.
• Automation: Introducing automated testing and continuous integration to enhance development reliability and efficiency.
• Governance: Establishing roles and processes to ensure the continued growth, maintenance, and adoption of the design system as a useful toolkit for all teams.
• Accessibility Integration: Proactively incorporating accessibility features to ensure compliance and enhance user experience for all customers.

By focusing on implementing a cohesive design system, promoting cross-team collaboration, and leveraging automation, we significantly enhanced the airline's digital platforms. This approach not only improved brand consistency and reduced development time but also laid the groundwork for ongoing adaptation and innovation. Our strategic alignment of design and engineering has set the stage for sustained growth and customer satisfaction.