01
When I joined Dexla, the brand was at a pivotal stage. With an expanding suite of digital products and ambitious scaling plans, maintaining design consistency across platforms had become a challenge. My first task was clear: build a scalable design system that would unify the brand's visual identity, streamline workflows, and empower teams to create cohesive user experiences. I began by diving deep into Dexla's unique needs and aspirations. The project gained momentum when Ayowande joined, bringing fresh perspectives and collaborative energy. Together, we worked to create a design system that would be both highly functional and authentically reflect Dexla's brand identity and values.
As Dexla grew, new features and updates rolled out, design inconsistencies emerged across platforms, creating a fragmented experience (For both users and in-house team members) and unclear brand identity. The team needed a unified design approach to maintain competitiveness. The absence of a design system created communication barriers between designers, developers and other stakeholders which led to longer development cycles, repetitive work and diluted branding. The only thing I met was the logo
Our team meetings revealed several key challenges. The undefined brand identity made establishing design principles difficult, while time constraints from ongoing product updates complicated the process. Additionally, our tech stack limitations made integrating a new design system challenging, raising concerns about workflow efficiency.
RESEARCH
Before diving into building the design system, I took time to study how industry leaders approached theirs. I analyzed Google’s Material Design, Atlassian’s Design System, and Wise’s Design System, looking for patterns, best practices, and potential gaps.
