Moving Fast - PayPal UI 4

A refreshed Design System powering our flagship consumer app release in 4 months

  • Very aggressive timeline: Kick off Oct 2023 to Public release Jan 25, 2024

  • Only possible because of the solid Design System foundation we carefully built over years and the full focus of our team to maintain quality in the accelerated schedule

The Challenge

Make big system changes an insane deadline

A refreshed Design System powering our flagship consumer app release in 4 months

  • Very aggressive timeline: Kick off Oct 2023 to Public release Jan 25, 2024

  • Only possible because of the solid Design System foundation we carefully built over years and the full focus of our team to maintain quality in the accelerated schedule

Built on a strong foundation

We leveraged our existing design system architecture to move very quickly

  • Quickly adapted token system to apply base styles - Color, Typography, Grid/Spacing

  • Prioritized impactful changes, postponed wider efforts like assets (icons/illustrations)

  • Added template components (new layouts, capabilities)

  • Strengthened DS documentation

For more of the back story, see case study: DS Evolution.

Full focus sprint

We paused other important projects and collaborative efforts

  • (-) We paused other important projects and collaborative efforts

  • (-) We had to minimize support for the existing system and its users

  • (+) As we worked quickly we had to connect more frequently to make sure we were staying aligned across the system

  • (+) Product managers helped us prioritize and assign the work

  • (+) Team reviews were centered around making quick decisions to move things forward

  • (+) Feedback from leaders was limited so we could avoid churn

My part

We divided up the work and I lead key areas of the project

  • I updated key components like buttons, avatars, alerts, and form elements

  • I added support for variables and variant properties

  • I re-wrote design guidelines for key components

  • I worked 1:1 with native engineers to QA each update

  • I helped support training and adoption of the library by the design org

Impressive results

We paused other important projects and collaborative efforts

  • (We delivered a new DS revision in lightning speed

  • Delivered the Figma library update in just 3 weeks!

  • Added guidelines and supported engineering for following 2 weeks

The stars aligned and we delivered our 4.0 library to native app teams, who quickly applied it to their feature screens

  • Native engineering teams used our revised libraries

  • Increased adoption of the system through the feature experiences

The new app was ready for the big announcement and public release January 25, 2024

Reflections

Mission Possible

  • It took a team effort

    • We had to make big priority decisions to limit scope

    • We all had to pause other projects to focus

  • But we did it! Delivered the Figma library update in just 3 weeks

    • Added guidelines and supported engineering for following 2 weeks

    • Fastest system iteration in PP history :)

Next time?

  • I wouldn’t recommend this strategy in the future, yes our team met the deadline, but we also set an expectation that it was wise to rush system work that should be done with care not speed. We had to make compromises that will come back to bite us later.

  • Better project planning could have allowed us to make better decisions and release the DS on a phased rollout.

Let's connect :)

I can share more about this project when we meet.