DesignOps
Agregio Solutions, a subsidiary of the EDF group, specialises in optimising energy management, offering intelligent and sustainable solutions for the production, storage and consumption of electricity.
Following its merger in 2023 with Store & Forecast, another EDF Group entity focused on forecasting the production and consumption of renewable energies, Agregio Solutions is at the heart of a strategic transformation aimed at consolidating its leading position in the energy sector.
My mission, as the first Product Designer to be integrated into the teams of these newly unified entities, was to facilitate the design of products intended both for internal employees and for the company's customers.
Agregio Solutions faced several challenges related to managing its monolithic product, inconsistencies between design and development, and a lack of standardization in interface design.
Design and implement an evolutionary Design System that could address these challenges in the long term.
Integration of product teams: Facilitate collaboration between the teams of the two entities, which went from managing 3 to 8 products in the space of one intervention, despite previously distinct design and development methodologies.
Unification of practices: Harmonize design and development methods to create a consistent and efficient workflow across all products.
Long-term vision: Establish a lasting and fruitful collaboration between the Paris and Lyon sites, supporting a long-term vision of product innovation and growth.
At the start of my intervention, I didn't yet know what the objective of the new system was.
To understand the scope of the subject, I set up a quick workshop with stakeholder to develop a long-term vision for the system, which would serve as a reference throughout the life of the project.
“Co-design a set of rules, principles and components grouped in a coherent, high-quality, reusable library
to develop Agregio's products, tools and services.”
Prioritize product team needs and define key goals for the Design System by analyzing verbatims collected from interviews and surveys, I identified three long-term strategic priorities for the Design System. These were validated in a strategic prioritization workshop with the stakeholders.
UI components to improve interface consistency
Gap between design and development
product maintenance and evolution
Workshop to identify OKRs (Objective Key Results) with stakeholders to ensure the system's feasibility.
I organized a series of workshops (based on Nathan Curtis' work) with the product teams to define the essential components. Together, we identified the top 10 components to be prioritized for the Design System.
Results of one of the team workshops.
Step 1: Each participant identifies his or her priorities.
Step 2: Reduce priorities to a maximum of 10.
A dozen or so components and styles have been entered into the team's backlog with a view to creating the future roadmap.
During these workshops, ambassadors were naturally appointed from among the front-end developers to facilitate adoption of the Design System and ensure its correct use, but also to contribute to the co-creation of components.
To keep pace with the production teams, we implemented the design system using an iterative Agile (SAFe) approach. Implementation followed 3-month cycles, starting with a temporary MUI theme to meet urgent needs.
Several communication channels (Slack) were set up to facilitate exchanges between teams: one channel for support, another for updates, and one for technical releases. These channels have played a key role in supporting teams and promoting the benefits of the Design System.
Historic moment: the first release note of the design system on the project's Slack channel. 🚀
Regular support sessions were organized to answer technical questions and demonstrate the concrete benefits of the new system.
Thanks to these efforts, teams quickly adopted the Design System.
The design system was regularly updated on the basis of user feedback. A clear contribution process has been established, enabling teams to add new components or suggest improvements.
We also planned the dismantling of the MUI theme over several 3-month cycles, gradually replacing MUI components with those from the design system.
A very small extract of all the elements produced during the intervention.
Using the "Decision log" template in focused group meetings, I learned to promote accountability and team understanding. This documentation also aids in comprehending the design rationale for design systems end-users.
Taking the initiative to manage all this project, from discovery to delivery, I resolved workflow issues and boosted design system launch. This experience showed that design thinking and design system can make an big impact.
This project transformed how Agregio Solutions approaches design and product development. Thanks to an evolutionary Design System, I reduced inconsistencies, improved team productivity, and established a collaborative design culture. The tangible results, measured through precise KPIs, highlight the impact of this approach. This project also laid the foundation for taking on greater Design Ops responsibilities, focusing on optimizing design processes on a larger scale.