Defining a design system for Boston

The City of Boston has a strong, recognizable brand you'll find referenced in hundreds of City products and services. The Digital Services team managed a rapidly growing portfolio of digital products and delivery partners, and they needed a common visual language that translated the City's brand and design principles into consistent digital experiences.

I partnered with Ethan Marcotte to move the Digital Services team from shared patterns to a scalable, holistic design system. We developed a "version zero" design system toolkit with a token architecture, reusable components, and usability guidance for the Digital Services team to kickstart their design system journey.

Outcomes:

• Convened and aligned delivery teams across the City on common terminology, functionality, and usability practices for key components.
• Built a primitive and semantic token architecture for color usage across City applications.
• Delivered a roadmap to Digital Service team leadership on future design system expansion and evolution.
• Established design system documentation for key tokens and components that included UX guidance and accessibility considerations.