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CASE STUDY
Heart Design System
From grassroots effort to enterprise-scale design infrastructure. The story of how I built and scaled Heart across web, iOS, and Android platforms at Southwest Airlines — and what I learned along the way.
Read time: ~14 minutes
ROLEOriginated and led the system — from a grassroots side effort to Digital Product Manager, Design Ops
PROBLEMSouthwest's product design ran on an aging, fragmented visual language, hand-recreated inconsistently across every team and page
SCALE~12 designers + 2-3 contractors opposite ~250 engineers (about 1:17-18); spans web, iOS, and Android
WHAT CHANGEDA one-person side effort became a resourced, governed system with its own dedicated contractor and roadmap
Four chapters tell the story
The Long GameI've known design systems were the answer since before most people were calling them that.CHAPTER 1 · ORIGIN STORYThe Long GameI've known design systems were the answer since before most people were calling them that.CHAPTER 1 · ORIGIN STORYStaying AliveWhen the brand director signed off, things started moving. Then the pandemic hit.CHAPTER 2 · PANDEMICStaying AliveWhen the brand director signed off, things started moving. Then the pandemic hit.CHAPTER 2 · PANDEMICThe Moment It ClickedSouthwest's gift card experience worked. But underneath, it was still wearing Leapfrog.CHAPTER 3 · GIFT CARD POCThe Moment It ClickedSouthwest's gift card experience worked. But underneath, it was still wearing Leapfrog.CHAPTER 3 · GIFT CARD POCNo Straight LinesScaling a design system is hard. Scaling one without a dedicated team is a different kind of hard.CHAPTER 4 · SCALINGNo Straight LinesScaling a design system is hard. Scaling one without a dedicated team is a different kind of hard.CHAPTER 4 · SCALING