Design Systems & Governance
I led the creation and governance of complex, scalable design systems for Cadillac’s freeform displays—unifying all infotainment experiences across multiple displays, under a cohesive, future-ready brand framework.
My Role
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Established scalable standards and component libraries to ensure consistency across in-vehicle experiences
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Accelerated development by creating a shared design language between design and engineering
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Led a cross-functional team to define a theme tokenization strategy enabling dynamic theme switching
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Strengthened system-wide governance to support cohesive, scalable implementation across vehicles
Challenges we were facing before the design system [2018-2020]
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Multiple displays & Cadillac programs evolving in parallel (Cluster, Centerstack, Rear Screens, etc)
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Varying software platforms with different limitation and storage issues
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Fragmented patterns & ad-hoc design decisions causing inconsistency, risks & rework
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Lacking overall governance and structure, a defined brand language & systemic approach
Scalable Design System & Brand Governance
I defined patterns, templates, and documentation to ensure a consistent, clear brand expression across all Cadillac displays. My role was creating its core components, supporting guidelines, and developing training and reference materials to enable adoption across teams. I weighed trade-offs between scalable system solutions and one-off design requests, keeping long-term maintainability and quality at the center of decision-making.
File Hierarchy
Both Cadillac Lyriq & Escalade IQ Design Systems share a unified hierarchy and structure, enabling theme and component reuse as well as simplifying component discover for designers within files.
Component Architecture
All components use a consistent naming convention and largely share the same underlying architecture.
Component -> Type -> State -> Size -> Additional Identifiers
Theming Strategy & Documentation
I defined and operationalized a scalable color variable system in Sketch & Figma to enable efficient color updates and seamless theme switching across programs and vehicles, and established comprehensive theming strategy documentation adopted by designers, software engineers, and suppliers.
Design Quality Assurrance Process
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Led weekly reviews with designers to QA their files and provide feedback
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Made design decisions and trade-offs when ad-hoc design variations were necessary
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Pushed for consistent, scalable design using existing components
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Mentored designers on proper usage of components and where to find supporting documentation
Due to confidentiality agreements and proprietary restrictions, I am only able to share publicly available information and imagery related to this work. Specific processes, internal documentation, and unreleased materials have been omitted to respect organizational and partner confidentiality.