Design Systems Lead · Visa
Visa Product
Design System
Took a young design system from an internal foundation to a public platform at design.visa.com — the visual language, how the team worked, and how we talked about it.
The starting point
VPDS was a young team when I joined. The foundation was already there — but design and engineering were working in their own corners. We didn’t really have a shared sense of where to spend our efforts.
The needs for the product work is what aligned us. As we tightened the visual language and the interaction rules, a point of view showed up. We practiced the kind of collaboration we wanted other teams to have. That work is what made a public launch at design.visa.com possible.
Defining the principles
We began by building on the team’s existing knowledge. Through active product work, we evolved the component library, sharpened documentation, and expanded the system to better support customization.
We brought content designers into the fold, strengthened collaboration with engineering, and deepened our partnership with accessibility. Along the way, we created our own streamlined processes for component additions, reviews, and global design organization communications.
Consolidating and refining
Qualitative research and annual surveys confirmed what we suspected: discoverability and fragmented documentation were major pain points for our users.
We shared the evidence, gained engineering support, and built a unified custom documentation site that served as a single entry point for all audiences. Treating the design system like a product itself, we applied our own design practices to set clear priorities and guide ongoing evolution.
Going public
With internal credibility and a strong foundation in place, we shifted focus to securing stakeholder alignment for a public launch. We saw a public site as a powerful opportunity to expand visibility and adoption well beyond the design organization.
Partnering closely with experts across the company, we refined the messaging and visual appeal, navigated the legal and launch processes, and successfully released VPDS to the public.
Impact
The public launch was a significant milestone that rallied teams across the organization. It delivered the visibility we were seeking, drawing strong attention from both product and technology groups.
Documentation reach grew several times over after going public, expanding our audience far beyond the design organization.
The design system was instrumental in helping to define, design and develop user experiences for key Visa products, including Visa Flexible Credential, Visa Payment Passkey and Visa Protect solutions.