PARKINSON’S UK - DESIGN SYSTEM

Creating a scalable Design System and DesignOps framework, improving consistency, efficiency, and usability testing for Parkinson’s UK.

Context

As Senior UX Designer at Parkinson’s UK, I led the initiative to create a comprehensive Design System and establish DesignOps processes. With multiple teams, both internal and external, working on digital products and branding assets, there was a growing need for alignment, efficiency, and governance across all design outputs.

A key challenge was that the organisation primarily worked with an external development agency, meaning there was no in-house, front-end team to maintain design consistency. Additionally, other departments beyond the Digital Experience team were producing design assets, leading to fragmentation in visual identity and user experience.

Another driving force behind the Design System was offline usability testing. Parkinson’s UK had an extensive network of local groups, providing a valuable opportunity for in-person research. A structured, reusable Figma-based system would allow for the rapid creation of high-fidelity prototypes, making it easier to test designs efficiently in real-world scenarios.

Challenges

Without a unified system, teams often worked in silos, producing inconsistent UI patterns, duplicated assets, and conflicting brand interpretations. The reliance on an external development agency meant there was no centralised design-to-development workflow, making implementation slower and less predictable.

There was also no formal governance around asset creation and updates. Design files were often managed independently by different teams, leading to discrepancies across digital touchpoints and making it difficult to maintain a cohesive experience.

Approach

The first step was to define core design foundations, including typography, colour palettes, spacing, and interactive components. These elements were structured into a scalable UI framework, ensuring that all teams could reference a single source of truth.

Figma was chosen as the primary design system repository, ensuring that prototyping and iteration could be done efficiently, particularly for offline testing. The system was built with high-fidelity prototyping in mind, allowing designers to quickly create testable interfaces for Parkinson’s UK’s local support groups.

In parallel, DesignOps processes were introduced to formalise governance, asset management, and workflows. This included setting up design documentation, contribution guidelines, and structured review processes to ensure consistency across different teams.

Implementation

The system was rolled out in phases, starting with foundational elements before expanding into interactive components and UI patterns. A centralised Figma library was created, ensuring that both internal and external teams could access and use standardised assets.

For external development teams, clear handoff documentation and structured design files were created to bridge the gap between design and implementation. While broader organisational adoption remained a challenge, the system provided a structured and scalable foundation for future work.

Impact

The Design System established a consistent visual language, reducing fragmentation across Parkinson’s UK’s digital products. The introduction of DesignOps governance created a more structured approach to managing design assets, helping teams work more efficiently.

By centralising design in Figma, the system also streamlined prototyping for offline usability testing, making it easier to create and iterate on high-fidelity designs for Parkinson’s UK’s extensive local support network.

Although full adoption across all teams was not achieved, the system laid essential groundwork for future scalability, improving design consistency, efficiency, and governance across the organisation.

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PARKINSON'S UK - DESIGN SYSTEM

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UX & UI DESIGN

• PARKINSON'S UK - DESIGN SYSTEM • UX & UI DESIGN

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