Hilton – Building a Scalable Design System from the Ground Up

Project Overview

Timeframe: 2021–Present

Role: Senior UI Designer → Lead UI Designer & Product Owner

Team: Mobile Design, Design System Pod, UI Council

At Hilton, I stepped into a role that evolved from individual contribution to leading one of the most foundational efforts in our digital transformation: the development and scale of our mobile design system. Starting as a contractor, I helped wrangle the chaos of an inconsistent UI ecosystem. Today, I serve as the Product Owner of the Design System Pod, responsible for architecting the component framework, scaling documentation, and bridging cross-functional alignment.

2. Problem & Context

Challenge: How do we increase efficiency and reduce both design and development time for features across Hilton’s mobile ecosystem?

When I joined, Hilton’s mobile platform lacked a shared design language. Designers used different names and structures for the same UI elements. There was no true design system—just loosely aligned typography and color palettes. UI components were inconsistently built, undocumented, and interpreted differently across iOS and Android. This fragmentation led to wasted time, inconsistent guest experiences, and massive communication gaps between design and engineering teams.

The cultural mindset leaned toward handoffs rather than collaboration. As someone fluent in both design and development, I immediately recognized the opportunity to shift from siloed workstreams to a more unified, scalable model rooted in shared understanding.

3. My Approach

Laying the Foundation

The first step was aligning our teams on a shared language—literally. I spearheaded efforts to standardize naming conventions and design practices using atomic design principles. This allowed us to break the UI down into modular, reusable building blocks. I pushed for every component to live in context: content components inside containers, defined behaviors, and documented rules of use.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Working alongside development, content, accessibility, and research teams, I evangelized the principles of reusable design. I didn’t just create components—I helped reframe how we think about building them. From decision logs to parity initiatives, my approach was always: start together, finish together.

Navigating Resistance

Some teams were hesitant. Not everyone understood what a design system is or what it isn’t. I leaned into education: running 1:1s, leading working sessions, and piloting new documentation methods. As a representative of the UI Council, I also collaborated with web and internal tools teams to unify standards across platforms, not just within mobile.

4. Key Contributions

🚀 Design System Leadership

• Became Product Owner of the Design System Pod

• Created a shared library for core mobile components (e.g. ButtonGroup, SearchBarButton, Slider, RadioButtonGroup)

• Defined scalable naming conventions for UI elements across iOS and Android

• Helped establish a component architecture that prioritizes content-first design within container frameworks

📚 Documentation + Education

• Led migration to ZeroHeight for unified component documentation

• Designed reusable templates used across Hilton’s platforms

• Regularly ran Design Lab teaching sessions and contributed heavily to UI Council standards

📈 Operational & Strategic Wins

• Improved feature release efficiency by ~45% since joining

• Aligned component parity across mobile platforms (e.g., ChipRow, AlertMessage, DatePicker)

• Built self-service tooling and docs for brand asset teams and partners like MARTECH

5. Difficult Decisions

The most challenging aspect of this work wasn’t the UI—it was the team dynamics. When I stepped into the Product Owner role, I had to shift from being a hands-on designer to a strategist. That meant defining priorities, navigating cross-functional politics, and realigning workstreams. I had to make difficult calls, like stepping back from UX-focused roles on the pod and doubling down on scalable UI efforts that served the broader org.

6. Results

• Significant increase in development and design efficiency org-wide

• Unified the design language across all mobile platforms

• Successfully shifted the team culture toward shared ownership and collaboration

• Helped pave the way for the M3 design system rollout in line with Hilton’s rebrand

While specific metrics are confidential, my work has been acknowledged through promotion consideration and direct praise from leadership across product, design, and engineering.

7. What I Learned

This project pushed me beyond design thinking and into operational leadership. I had to become a communicator, a strategist, and a cultural bridge. I learned how to lead initiatives that aren’t always glamorous—but are mission critical.

If I were to start over, I’d push even harder on defining foundational components earlier. But I’m incredibly proud of how we shifted mindsets. Designers now speak dev. Devs now understand design. Our team went from fragmented to focused, and I helped lead that evolution.

8. Teachable Takeaway

“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”

If you’re building a system, start by listening. Learn the language of your partners—engineering, accessibility, content. Find the patterns in their problems and build solutions that work for everyone. Great design systems aren’t just tools. They’re bridges.