OpenGov
Capital Design System
Define the vision and foundations for a scalable and modular design system that reflects an updated visual language for OpenGov.
Basics
Problem
This was a design-driven project that helped solve many organizational issues. We had all the standard problems that a design system helps solve: inconsistent experiences across applications, developers duplicating work for standard components, a lack of a framework to make design decisions within, and a look and feel that many felt didn’t reflect our brand or what we wanted our brand to be. And so we endeavored to make a design system.
Design systems are organisms that span the lifetime of a company. Making a design system is really a process that does not end. This project was about breaking ground and laying the foundations that have taken us into the present.
Role
- Strategy
- Research
- System Design
- Interaction Design
- Visual Design
Goals
- Increase speed, efficiency, and quality
- Visuals that speak to customers and provide a competitive edge
- Reusable, responsive, and scalable components and patterns
Process
To keep pace, the original pilot was time-boxed to 12 week and followed a garden variety design process.
You are here
We collected our products, style guides, and other reference documents.
As well as stakeholder and customer feedback.
Through this we developed a definition of what OpenGov should feel like:
Explore
Now with guiding principles, we began exploring visual treatments.
Design
We focused on 3 high-impact choices: Typography, Color, and Holistic Experiences.
Systems need rules. So we looked for organic patterns: applying them across the system and then writing the rule.
Document
It was important for our documentation to be easy to access and update, so we opted for a combination of google docs and sketch.
Results
The pilot produced a system which then needed to be built and evolved. Today, the system continues to grow with the help of many designers and engineers.
