As the Figma Implementation Lead for IBM’s Carbon Design System, I was responsible for creating and refining the Figma tooling infrastructure that enabled designers to work more efficiently, ensuring consistency and usability in the design components they rely on. My efforts centered on improving designer workflows through advanced Figma components, driving efficiency and quality in how IBM teams use Carbon’s assets in their day-to-day design work. From guiding the migration to the latest design standards to developing custom Figma libraries and best practices, my work directly impacted the designers’ experience within Figma and contributed to IBM’s mission of delivering consistent, high-quality digital experiences.
Carbon is IBM’s open source design system for products and digital experiences. With the IBM Design Language as its foundation, the system consists of working code, design tools and resources, human interface guidelines, and a vibrant community of contributors.
While the Carbon system provides the underlying design principles and reusable components, my role focused specifically on architecting and optimizing the design tooling that IBM’s 2100+ designers use within Figma. This was critical for ensuring that designers could access, modify, and implement Carbon’s components in the most efficient and user-friendly way possible.
My work aimed to address key challenges in designer efficiency, component quality, and workflow optimization, ensuring that all teams using Carbon’s assets in Figma could do so without friction, while maintaining the integrity of IBM’s design standards.
As the lead for Figma implementation, I led several key initiatives:
Building and Maintaining Figma Libraries
I architected the Figma component libraries, ensuring they were intuitive, efficient, and scalable. By delivering four core Carbon themes, I gave IBM designers the flexibility to apply these themes across products with minimal effort while maintaining consistency.
Improving Designer Workflows
I focused on enhancing workflows within Figma by optimizing components for reusability and performance. This included developing best practices for Figma usage that helped designers work more efficiently, minimizing redundancy and ensuring that component updates could be seamlessly integrated.
Training and Upskilling
I created comprehensive training programs to upskill designers across IBM, ensuring they were fully equipped to use Figma’s advanced features and the Carbon components. These sessions not only focused on design execution but also emphasized how to leverage Figma’s prototyping, interactions, and collaboration tools to enhance the overall design process.
Managing the Migration from v10 to v11
I played a crucial role in managing the migration of Carbon components from v10 to v11, ensuring that breaking changes, particularly around tokens and the introduction of variables, were seamlessly implemented in Figma. This involved detailed planning, communication, and support to help designers transition smoothly to the new standards.
Standardization and Review
I established a review process within Figma, ensuring that all components adhered to IBM’s quality and accessibility standards. This process helped maintain consistency across teams, reducing errors and ensuring a streamlined design approach.
One of the major challenges was the sheer scale of IBM’s design teams, with over 2100 designers relying on the Figma libraries I managed. Ensuring that all designers had access to consistent, performant components required constant iteration and support.
Additionally, the migration from v10 to v11 presented significant challenges in terms of communication and implementation. The breaking changes around tokens and the introduction of variables required designers to adapt to new ways of working with Figma components. Ensuring a smooth transition involved not only delivering clear documentation and guidelines but also providing hands-on support and coaching.
Ensuring quality and performance in the Figma libraries was another key challenge. It was critical that every component worked as expected, regardless of how large or complex a design might be. To address this, I focused on building efficient, scalable components that could be reused across a wide range of design projects, reducing the need for duplication and improving performance.
Through my work, I significantly improved the efficiency and quality of IBM’s design workflows in Figma. Designers were able to reduce time spent on repetitive tasks by reusing pre-built components, resulting in a 50% improvement in speed-to-market for IBM products.
The four Carbon themes I developed for Figma were delivered to over 2100 IBMers, making it easier for teams to design consistent products across the board. The migration from v10 to v11 was completed smoothly, with minimal disruption to ongoing projects thanks to the robust training, review process, and documentation I created.
Overall, my efforts helped IBM’s design teams become more agile and effective in using Carbon’s assets within Figma, driving better product outcomes and contributing to the larger goals of reducing duplication, increasing consistency, and delivering compelling digital experiences.