Are design systems really necessary?
When I first stepped into Nebraska Medicine’s digital ecosystem, it felt like wandering through a hospital basement, too many signs pointing in different directions, doors leading to dead ends, and a handful of outdated maps on the wall. Across websites and apps, we had too many variables, inconsistent typefaces, clunky, outdated pages, and old design artifacts still floating around. Each project felt like reinventing the wheel, and patients, families, providers were the ones paying the price with confusion.
Starting small and utilizing what exists
I knew we couldn’t trash everything and start fresh. So I started small, aligning with Nebraska Medicine’s existing brand guidelines. Roboto became our font of choice, not glamorous, but dependable, readable, and scalable across platforms.
I introduced an 8-pt grid system to bring order where there had been chaos. Suddenly, layouts snapped into place. Even before introducing new colors or icons, the system began to breathe and look more structured.
Starting small and utilizing what exists
I knew we couldn’t trash everything and start fresh. So I started small, aligning with Nebraska Medicine’s existing brand guidelines. Roboto became our font of choice, not glamorous, but dependable, readable, and scalable across platforms.
I introduced an 8-pt grid system to bring order where there had been chaos. Suddenly, layouts snapped into place. Even before introducing new colors or icons, the system began to breathe and look more structured.
