Abdellatif BouhellalAbdellatif Bouhellal
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Product Designer
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confluence
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When I joined Finquest few years ago, I was the first and only designer on the team. It was both an exciting challenge and a significant responsibility. At the time, there was no established design system—designs were handled arbitrarily by developers and product owners, relying on personal preferences or third-party libraries. This lack of consistency and alignment highlighted an urgent need for a robust and scalable design system.
The problem? no standards, either many variants
When I joined Finquest, one of the first challenges I noticed was the lack of consistency across the platform’s user interfaces. Developers and product owners had been designing and implementing components without a centralized reference, resulting in a fragmented experience.
To understand the extent of the issue, I conducted a thorough UI inventory across the company’s portal and apps. The findings were revealing:
This inconsistency wasn’t just an aesthetic issue—it was impacting development speed, creating confusion, and weakening the overall user experience.
Learning the basics of a design system
When I started building the design system for Finquest, I faced an overwhelming challenge: how do I organize all the components into something cohesive and scalable? I wasn’t born with the ability to create design systems, but I was determined to learn.
Thankfully, some of the most successful companies—like Shopify, Apple, and Google—had published their design systems, which provided a wealth of inspiration. However, these systems were massive and tailored to their unique needs. They were aspirational but not directly applicable to the challenges at Finquest.
What truly transformed my approach was discovering Atomic Design, a methodology introduced by Brad Frost. Atomic Design provides a clear framework for structuring a design system by breaking down user interfaces into five interconnected layers:
How can I make this valuable for both designers and developers?
Reflecting on the initial problem—how to create a design system that is simple, scalable, and understandable for both designers and developers—I realized the importance of collaboration. For the system to succeed, it needed to bridge the gap between visual design and development seamlessly.
To address this, I partnered closely with a front-end developer to ensure the design system met the needs of both disciplines. This collaboration allowed us to:
Introduce Design Tokens: Semantic variables for colors, typography, and spacing were defined to maintain consistency and adaptability across products.
Embed Code Snippets: Each component in the design system included its corresponding Sass variables, CSS classes, and reusable code snippets, integrated directly into the documentation and Figma files.
Align on Communication: Through regular feedback loops, we developed a shared language to describe components, behaviors, and patterns, ensuring everyone understood how to use the system effectively.
A grid system provides the foundation for creating consistent, organized layouts in a design system. It establishes a structure that ensures alignment, balance, and scalability across different screen sizes and devices. By defining columns, gutters, and spacing, the grid system helps maintain visual harmony and guides both designers and developers in crafting cohesive interfaces. expectations
I worked on this project as a Product Designer. Main areas of responsibility:
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. design is how it works” – Steve Jobs
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Leonardo da Vinci
“Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein
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