essense design system

context

Sensedia scaled fast, but that growth came with visual and technical chaos across internal products. Each team built interfaces in their own way, with inconsistent components, UI variations, and non-scalable decisions.
Our challenge was to unify everything into a functional, scalable Design System maintained by multiple teams.

my role and responsabilities

I led the design of the esSense system, from foundation to the delivery of the first production-ready kits. I was responsible for:

• Auditing existing patterns and visual inconsistencies

• Structuring the system architecture

• Defining tokens and design guidelines

• Creating the first Figma components

• Testing with developers and supporting the initial rollout

research and diagnosis

We audited our main internal products and found:

• 26 different button styles (no exaggeration)

• Conflicting visual patterns

• Lack of documentation and alignment between design and dev

• Low reusability and maintenance issues

These insights helped us prioritize critical components and justify the initiative to leadership.

building the system and strategic decisions

We structured the system in layers:

• Foundations: color, typography, spacing, grid

• Tokens: built a naming system for consistent design logic

• Components: prioritized critical ones based on the audit

• Documentation: clear guidelines, examples, best practices, and tech specs

Everything was built in close collaboration with the dev team, ensuring feasibility and smoother implementation.

governance and adoption

To ensure long-term sustainability, we created:

• A dedicated maintenance squad (with a suggestion intake process)

• Versioning workflows

• Living documentation in Notion and Figma

• Onboarding materials for new teams

Result: Within 3 months, 4 squads were actively using the esSense system, reporting time savings and fewer visual bugs.

impact and learnings

Impact:

• 40% reduction in screen creation time

• Smoother communication between Design and Engineering

• Teams felt more confident scaling products consistently

Key Learnings:

• Clear documentation is just as important as clean design

• A Design System must be alive, with owners and defined processes

• Culture is a core part of adoption and success

what I'd do differently today

With more experience, I would have invested earlier in:

• Code-connected tokens using tools like Style Dictionary

• Governance dashboard with usage metrics

• A motion kit for more consistent UI interactions