Designing the system behind the design

Designing at scale means designing the system—not just the screens. As part of SSA’s Digital Experience Council, I helped build the governance and collaborative rituals that kept product, policy, design, engineering, and operations aligned.

We created shared standards, decision-making frameworks, and north stars that allowed dozens of teams to modernize critical public-facing experiences without fragmenting the user journey.

My role centered on turning complex policy, research insights, and technical constraints into clear, human-centered guidance that teams could act on. I facilitated alignment across components, established editorial + IA standards, and helped shape the cross-agency digital-first strategy.

This work wasn’t about controlling decisions—it was about creating the conditions where good design could scale.