Overview
Optimy is a SaaS platform that helps organizations manage their grant, volunteer, donation, and sponsorship programs.
As the product and team scaled, I led the creation of Optimy’s first Design System — a project that improved collaboration across teams, reduced redundant meetings, and enabled more efficient and consistent product development.
Problem
Without a Design System in place, maintaining consistency across Optimy’s growing ecosystem became unsustainable:
Designers and developers relied on constant syncs to align on patterns and components.
The absence of clear guidelines led to design inconsistencies and duplicated effort.
There was no documented source of truth for UI decisions, increasing friction and slowing down the creation of new features.
With limited resources and no existing branding guidelines, we needed to build a system that was simple, scalable, and easy to maintain — and that could immediately help cross-functional teams collaborate more effectively.
Outcome
Reduced redundant meetings between design, development, and marketing teams.
Increased design and development efficiency by enabling faster component reuse and alignment.
Accelerated the delivery of new features by providing a shared language and well-documented components.
Laid a scalable foundation for future growth and ensured consistency across the platform.
