Streamlining Fragmented UX via Global Design System Documentation
I spearheaded the UX design guidelines for Whirlpool’s HMI Design System, empowering stakeholders across 5 global portfolios to navigate complex decision-making with clarity. This portion of the design system work accelerated design iteration, optimized our institutional R&D focus, and elevated product quality across the board.
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Key context
At Whirlpool, the HMI Design System is a critical and strategic response to the business leaders’ vision to drive for efficiency, scalable growth, and business elasticity. Unlike standard web or mobile design systems, this is a first-in-the-industry framework that bridges the gap between physical and digital product design. I recognized its unique nature, placing UX guidelines at the heart of HMI Design System to serve as the "source-of-truth" for a massive global portfolio and an intricate supply chain.
impacts
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reduction in per-project support effort.
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faster cross-functional turnaround.
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increase in recognized product experience quality.
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Deliverables
Leading a specialized HMI Design System team, under the Global Design System branch, I adopted a "small-to-big" north start strategy. We began by establishing a firm foundation within focused, design driven product portfolios then scaling those principles globally to a broader scope. I delivered architecture and a comprehensive collection of HMI design principles, on different hierarchy of behavior, pattern, and feature tailored for Whirlpool’s entire global line, from laundry and dish to fridge, cooking, and small appliances.
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Project highlights
challenge
Technical debt and culture resistance
Unlike digital-native products, Whirlpool’s appliance industry operates on a decade of project-specific, passive decisions rooted in a complex supply chain. These legacy silos often underestimated the cost of inefficiency. Establishing centralized principles was "organizational surgery", to unify a scattered warship and navigate it toward a new, cohesive direction.
key process
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auditing of legacy logic
I partnered with long-tenure SMEs and UX Research to validate a decade of UX decisions, ensuring we honored functional successes while fearlessly identifying areas for modernization.
tiered insight intake synthesis
I facilitated “Insight Exchange” sessions with different focus groups across five global portfolios to extract complex user and technical needs. This allowed us to align global guideline hierarchy with actual business practices, diverging into new principles only when specification is necessary.
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strategic advocacy and alignment
I integrated myself in hands-on UX design work, to lead the charge in bridging the gap between Brand, Marketing, and Engineering, transforming a fragmented culture into a unified, system-led organization.
success factors
Scaling Data-Driven Success
Integrating proven wins into the new framework to ensure principles were grounded in reality and honored the business’s existing success legacy.
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Architecting for Flexibility
Balancing global consistency with respect for unique product needs, empowering teams to maintain their specialized identity rather than feeling restricted.
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Trust-First Partnership
Investing in building high-trust partnerships to overcome resistance and transform skeptical stakeholders into active system contributors and users.
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