They stopped telling me what they’d done

Federated design system2026 · 13 weeks

A cross-platform design system for a leading European fashion retailer, with three of its four designers out. I made the slow work fast, opened one door for every squad, and extended what already worked instead of copying it.

One chip group, every size
Three layouts, one chip
Trim off · trim on

< 3 min
a spacing migration of 3,882 bindings, about 12 hours by hand per platform
12 → 1
duplicated email headers, now one header with slots
50% → 100%
developer time on the system, on every platform

Role: Design system specialist, running it day to day
Team: Design manager, platform tech leads and developers, squad designers
Timeline: April to July 2026
Platforms: Web, iOS and Android

1The setup

I’ve been on both sides of a federated system.

I started my career using a federated system, then building one. Here a small system team sat between many squads, three platforms and two partner teams. Three of its four designers were out, so I ran it day to day for 13 weeks.

Design managerSet priorities, backed the process

PartnersWork that leaned on the system

Marketing · email templatesAI assistant design

Design system teamAbout 7 component libraries

Running it

Lead · leave

On leave

Out

EngineeringSystem tech leads and platform devs

Web

iOS

Android

Product squadsEach with its own designer, on Web, iOS and Android

Checkout

Account and orders

Product page

Listing and search

Assistant

Figure 1. One small system team in the middle of many squads, three platforms and two partner teams.

2What was breaking

The card already existed three times.

Squads built what they needed and told us afterwards. The product card had a published version, a post-purchase copy and a new draft, each with its own rules. Adding AI on top would only have copied the mess faster.

Figure 2. Recreated. The card being redesigned already existed three times.

3The chip

They asked for a new chip. I reviewed it first.

The redesign asked for a brand new size selector chip. The designer also wanted negative spacing to line up the stock marks. I didn’t say no to the need. I took it to the developers and audited what the code really rendered.

Figure 3. Product page, bag, size guide and filters all had to keep working. The slot added the new case without breaking the old pattern.

The chip already lived on the product page, in the bag, in the size guide and in the filters, and every one had to keep working. So I left the old chip as it was, added one slot variant and filled it with three types. A Trim property on the icon lined up the marks without negative spacing. I did the same with order cards and 12 email headers.

4Speed

AI took the slow work. I kept the decisions.

Claude did the checkable work: the spacing migration, dark mode coverage, accessibility checks and icon clean-up, and I checked what it did. Names, props and which requests to close stayed decisions with the platform developers.

Spacing migration3,882 bindings moved to the new spacing tokensabout 12 hBy hand, per platform< 3 minWith Claude, checked by me

84/84Brand tokens ready for dark mode. Design stopped being the blocker.

280icon bindings cleaned, with searchable names12components with accessibility fixes

What stayed with people:component names, props and structure, and which requests to close. Decided with the platform devs.

Figure 4. Claude did the slow, checkable work. The time it saved went into the decisions.

5One way in

The value was timing.

Every week, squads brought real cases to an open desk, before anyone built. One path in: need, system team, open desk, joint decision, developer. After a retro we moved to Kanban with three in flight at most, and seven requests closed with a written reason.

When did the system team hear about it?Before: after the buildSquad buildsits own versionDev waitsover a weekSystem hearslastReworkor a new copyAfter: before the buildNeedfrom the squadOpen deskthat weekDecidedtogetherDev buildsonce

From the team retro“Technical feedback reaches us after the open desk, not before.”What changedA new open desk template: bring the case before buildingKanban, three in progress at mostOne way in: squad, system team, open desk, dev

Figure 5. The value is timing: squads brought the case before building, so it was built once.

6The ask

The data got the system its own developers.

The system had no baseline, so I built one: a KPI tree from business goals to system work, and a Pareto of the pain points. A few root causes held most of the pain. I asked for a small, low-risk first phase before scaling AI.

State of the design system · JulyClean the system before scaling AIThe ask: phase 1Bridge design and code on the top componentsMachine-readable descriptionsOne sprint, no new budgetPhases 2 and 3 only if phase 1 worksCostDuplicated components, rebuilt squad by squadTime to marketDecisions before the build, not afterRiskAI copies whatever is there todayKPI tree:Business goalsProduct resultsSystem work

Two months after I leftDevelopers on the system50%100%WebiOSAndroidThe case was mine. The decision was theirs.

State of the design system · JulyClean the system before scaling AIThe ask: phase 1Bridge design and code on the top componentsMachine-readable descriptionsOne sprint, no new budgetPhases 2 and 3 only if phase 1 worksCostDuplicated components, rebuilt squad by squadTime to marketDecisions before the build, not afterRiskAI copies whatever is there todayKPI tree:Business goalsProduct resultsSystem work
Two months after I leftDevelopers on the system50%100%WebiOSAndroidThe case was mine. The decision was theirs.

Figure 6. The slide I took to leadership, recreated. Shape only, the real numbers stay private.

Two months after I left, leadership moved the platform developers from half time to full time on the system, on every platform. The case was mine. The decision was theirs.

7Reflection

Three things I’d do again on day one.

Most of this came from saying yes to the need and no to the copy.

What I’d keep doing

Make the slow work fast first.
Speed earns the early conversations. Fast answers are why squads started coming before they built.
Open one door, every week.
A fixed weekly desk beats ten side channels. People learn where decisions happen.
Extend before you add.
A slot keeps every old case working and gives the new one a home. Copies only add upkeep.

Next case