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Building an Enterprise Design System for a Next-Generation Insurance Platform

Project Overview

When I joined WR Berkley, the organization was in the early stages of building a new, unified platform for insurance agents and insured users. Historically, each business segment operated on its own set of tools—fragmented, inconsistent, and often requiring manual intervention from support teams. The vision for the new was to create a single enterprise experience where users could independently quote, service, and maintain their accounts.

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As a Senior UX Researcher & Designer, I played a key role in shaping this transformation. A core part of my contribution centered around building, refining, and institutionalizing the platform’s Design System.

My Contributions

I partnered with designers, developers, and product leads to:​

  • Build and refine a comprehensive design system using Figma.

  • Document components in ZeroHeight for cross‑team accessibility.

  • Define usage guidelines, accessibility notes, interaction behaviors, and component states.

  • Support adoption through knowledge‑sharing sessions and design‑dev alignment.

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This work became foundational to elevating the platform from a collection of one‑off solutions to a scalable, enterprise product.

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The Challenge

As product teams began designing new features for the platform, it became clear that:

  • Different teams were interpreting UI patterns in different ways.

  • Existing designs lacked visual and behavioral consistency.

  • Developers were translating Figma files into code with varying levels of accuracy.

  • Without a shared component library, both design and development cycles were slowing down.

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To deliver an enterprise‑level experience, we needed a single source of truth.

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Building the Design System

Step 1

My first step was to audit existing designs across all product teams.

 

We collected:

  • Common UI patterns

  • Inconsistently styled components

  • Duplicated or conflicting elements

  • Gaps where components were needed but not yet defined

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This helped us establish an initial roadmap for the design system.

Step 2: Component Creation & Refinement

Working in Figma, we created reusable components and variants that aligned with the overarching brand and product direction.

 

This included:

  • Buttons, inputs, form elements

  • Table styles and data visualization components

  • Navigation patterns

  • Page layouts and grid structures

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I collaborated closely with engineering to ensure that each component was feasible, scalable, and optimized for development.

Step 3: Centralized Documentation

Using ZeroHeight, we documented each component with:

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  • Visual examples

  • Interaction rules

  • Accessibility guidelines

  • Do/Don't usage patterns

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For many team members, this became their first introduction to a structured design system.

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Strengthening Collaboration with Development

"Design System 101"  Workshops

To help developers feel confident navigating and implementing the system, we created and led a series of internal workshops. Topics included:

  • Understanding the design system and how to use it

  • How Figma’s Dev Mode works

  • Inspecting components, reading properties, and exporting assets

  • Best practices for giving and receiving design feedback

These sessions significantly improved communication and reduced friction during handoff.

Outcome

Developers began using Dev Mode independently and more frequently, which:

  • Cut down on misinterpretations of design intention

  • Improved the accuracy and speed of implementation

  • Reduced the need for iterative rework

  • Strengthened the shared language between design and engineering

Impact

The introduction and adoption of the design system had measurable benefits.

 

Consistency: A unified look and feel across all products and business segments.

Efficiency: Designers created flows faster, using pre‑built, aligned components.

Scalability: New features could be added while maintaining platform cohesion.

Developer confidence: Improved collaboration and reduced back‑and‑forth.

Enterprise maturity: The platform evolved from a segmented collection of tools into a cohesive enterprise solution.

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