Building a design system and governance model that brought coherence to 100+ digital properties across a complex, decentralized university.
DePaul University had over 100 digital properties serving students, faculty, staff, and prospective students. These properties were maintained by 80 different departments, each with their own priorities, technical capabilities, and interpretations of the university brand. Multiple content management systems were in use—each with different design patterns and component libraries—creating a fragmented digital landscape.
Users encountered wildly inconsistent experiences as they moved between university properties. The admissions site looked nothing like the student portal, which looked nothing like the alumni site. This inconsistency damaged brand perception, increased cognitive load for users, and created massive maintenance overhead as each team reinvented common patterns.
The stakes were significant: prospective students—the university's lifeblood—were forming impressions based on a fragmented, inconsistent digital presence. Internal teams were wasting resources solving the same design problems over and over. Technical debt was accumulating faster than we could address it. And with multiple CMS platforms, maintaining any semblance of brand consistency was nearly impossible.
The key insight was that we couldn't just impose standards from above—we had to make the design system valuable to the departments using it. That meant framing it as empowerment rather than constraint, and building tools that made people's jobs easier, not harder.
Conducted a comprehensive audit of all digital properties, documenting the CMS landscape, design patterns in use, and ownership structures. Developed a two-year consolidation roadmap to reduce from multiple CMS platforms to one—creating a foundation for consistent implementation of the design system.
Built a component-based design system with clear hierarchy: foundational styles (color, typography, spacing), UI components (buttons, forms, cards, navigation), and page templates. Documented usage guidelines and accessibility requirements for each component, creating a shared source of truth.
Established a governance structure that gave departments flexibility within guardrails. Created a contribution model where departments could propose new components, which would be reviewed, refined, and added to the shared system—ensuring the system evolved with real needs rather than stagnating.
Implemented the design system within a WYSIWYG content management interface, giving non-technical content owners the tools to build on-brand pages without needing design or development support. This was key to adoption—departments gained capability rather than losing control.
Developed training curriculum and conducted sessions with all 80 departments. Created self-service documentation and office hours for ongoing support. Tracked adoption metrics and followed up with departments that weren't migrating, addressing their specific concerns.
Full component library with UI components, usage documentation, and accessibility requirements.
Usage guidelines documenting when and how to use each component with clear examples.
Governance framework balancing consistency with flexibility and evolution.
"[PLACEHOLDER: Add testimonial from a department stakeholder about how the design system improved their ability to create and maintain their web presence]"
[Name] — [Department/Title]
Framing the design system as empowerment rather than constraint was essential. Departments weren't losing creative control—they were gaining capability. The WYSIWYG implementation made this tangible: people could build better pages faster without needing to request design resources. That shifted the conversation from resistance to enthusiasm.
I would have invested more in ongoing governance and evolution of the system. Design systems are living things, not one-time projects. Building more robust processes for component contribution, deprecation, and version management would have helped the system stay current and continue evolving after my departure.
This project demonstrates building a design system from scratch, driving adoption across a complex organization with 80 departments and competing priorities, and establishing governance that balances consistency with flexibility. The experience translates directly to enterprise product organizations where multiple product lines need to share patterns while serving distinct user needs.