Design Systems
The Zeroheight Initiative
A designer sets out to make a multibrand design system accessibile within a company.
Trailer
The setup
Our design system lived in Figma, built for designers. Executives and stakeholders wanted to run feature experiments for different brands, but had trouble understanding how components operated and their usage. Accessing Figma was an issue for staff members and assigning designers for these short term experiments was limited. As the senior product designer, I set out to make the system accessible to everyone internally, without requiring Figma access.
Making the system self-serve
I published our design system to Zeroheight and shared the URL with the right stakeholders. That gave non-designers a clear, browsable overview of our components and how they behave, with no Figma seat required. Including another ability for folks to check color contrast on their own while conducting rebrand experiments to ensure Inspire follows WCAG 2.1 guidelines.
Documenting components and their guidelines
Beyond the visuals, I documented how each component operates and the guidelines for using it, so teams understood not just what existed but how to apply it when planning a feature. Our documentation also included branded versions of each component, so stakeholders were able to focus on that particular brand.
Proving demand before paying for it
Instead of committing to a paid Zeroheight plan up front, I launched on the free plan first. That let us gauge real interest, how many teams actually viewed and used the site, before spending on a subscription.
Selected scenes
The premiere
The win showed up as friction removed. We saw fewer meetings to explain the system, less UX time spent walking teams through specific features, and fewer tickets raised. Stakeholders could answer their own questions and experiments on their own without needing designer guidance.