Background

Providence Health, a leading healthcare organization, struggled with inconsistencies across its web services. Without a unified design system, its web pages suffered from disjointed styles, unclear hierarchy, and a lack of standardized guidelines for components and best practices. This fragmented experience not only impacted the usability and accessibility of the platform but also created inefficiencies for the design and development teams. As a Senior UX Designer, I joined the Providence Health design team to address these challenges by creating a comprehensive design system that would unify the organization's digital presence.

Challenge

The absence of a design system led to significant inconsistencies across Providence Health's digital ecosystem. Variations in typography, color schemes, and component behaviors created a confusing user experience and diluted the brand identity. Additionally, the lack of documentation and guidelines forced designers and developers to make ad-hoc decisions, leading to inefficiencies and rework. With hundreds of pages and applications in use, building a scalable and accessible system that could be easily adopted across teams was a complex undertaking. The project also required collaboration with multiple stakeholders, including developers, designers, and leadership, each with unique priorities and constraints.

Solution

To address these issues, I led the creation of a scalable and cohesive design system tailored to the needs of Providence Health. The process began with a thorough audit of the existing digital assets, identifying patterns, redundancies, and inconsistencies. Using these insights, I collaborated with the team to define core design principles that would guide the system, prioritizing usability, accessibility, and scalability.

The design system included a library of reusable components, such as buttons, forms, and navigation elements, along with standardized styles for typography, color, and spacing. Each component was documented with detailed usage guidelines, including accessibility standards and examples of best practices. I also worked closely with developers to ensure the components were coded in a way that allowed seamless integration across web services.

To ensure successful adoption, I facilitated training sessions and created onboarding materials for designers and developers. A central repository was established for the design system, making it easy to access and update as the organization’s needs evolved.

Outcome

The implementation of the Providence Health design system resulted in a cohesive and consistent digital experience across the organization’s web services. The standardized components reduced design and development time by 80%, allowing teams to focus on innovation rather than rework. Usability testing showed a marked improvement in user satisfaction, with patients and providers reporting a clearer and more intuitive interface.

Internally, the design system fostered collaboration and alignment between teams, reducing friction and ensuring a unified approach to future projects. With the system in place, Providence Health established a strong foundation for scalability, enabling the organization to maintain consistency as it expanded its digital presence.