Design craft
Craft is how a product feels to use. It lives in things like words, transitions, alt text, the token system, and the decisions and extra care I put into the designs.
Role
Designer
Keywords
design crit, design system accessibilty, inclusive design
Date
Ongoing
I have been in many design teams. One thing that has been working well is we get together two times a week for feedback sessions, where I help facilitate and make sure we're pushing each other to a higher standard. I really encourage a feedback-friendly atmosphere, where design leads have the freedom to decide how best to use the input. I also use tools like context setting frameworks, best practice to set up figma files and prototypes, ways to keep communication clear and helpful for everyone involved.
While the team explores new ideas and maintains existing designs, it’s crucial to have a shared library system. I worked with design engineering to build design tokens and create a comprehensive library, with product designers consolidating components for easy integration by engineering.
In my design process, accessibility is extremely important since we have millions of users using our products. Things like color contrast, text readability, alt text labeling will go through rounds of reviews.
Using motion appropriately is important for calling out people's attention. Ignoring tiny details like timing and easing will break the experience.
One example is election, there are lots of very specific colors in the map and we used tricks like adding textures and the background and shadow around the text to make sure it is legible despite some specific color we have to use. Also using modal on the map and tables further down the page for detail information in case users want more clarity.
Design work and portfolio site made by Cat Tai