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A Simple System for Complex Apps
Disjointed product experiences, no consistency in design, usability, interaction, and techstacks used across complex 60+ products all led to confused and frustrated end-users.
From 2018 to 2021 I was part of a framework team that facilitated design convergence for 60+ products (the Dynamics 365 suite of products) across the Business Applications Group (BAG) at Microsoft, shadowed end-users and conducted research to understand their pain points, worked closely with the Microsoft Fluent team, and advocated for a one-framework (React) future for our products.
I also helped define a more delightful vision for design system and got to update Power BI’s default chart palette and co-define the brand future for our suite of enterprise products as a side project.
A v-team collaborative effort to build a design system that envisions the Dynamics 365 suite of products adopting the Microsoft Fluent design principles
The Fluent for Dynamics 365 system evolved into a more framework-first approach. With every release, we delivered a new batch of beta components built on user research and driven by Fluent’s foundation. We worked collectively with product teams to understand scenarios, get feedback & conduct research when needed. Controls that went through that vetting cycle were then released for use and adopted by product teams.
I also led workstreams with 20+ collaborators in product spaces across the company to craft component specs (e.g. for the DetailsList and Command Bar) and helped contribute guidance (e.g. surface hierarchy guidance in the context of complex enterprise products with multi-surface experiences e.g Power BI and Power Virtual Agents) to the Fluent design system. We worked through an audit of various products and presented core components in a working spec to the Fluent team and community.
