Healthcare / Design Systems / Governance

Design system governance at enterprise scale

UX Design Lab helped a global enterprise replace fragmented delivery with a governed design system and coded source of truth, reducing production time by 40%, lowering delivery costs by more than half, and cutting accessibility defects by 18%.

800+

Properties supported

40%

Production faster

50%+

Delivery costs lower

18%

Accessibility defects reduced

Design SystemsDesign OpsGovernanceAccessibilityVendor Enablement

Introduction

The Problem

A global enterprise was operating across hundreds of disconnected digital properties with inconsistent user experiences, duplicated delivery effort, and growing legal and reputational risk caused by accessibility gaps.

The Response

What began as a limited design system effort for one regulated division evolved into a program to prove value incrementally, then scale the model into a global standard.

Industry

Healthcare / Enterprise

Services

Design Systems, Design Ops, Governance, Accessibility, Vendor Enablement

Problem frame

fragmented delivery, inconsistent UX, accessibility risk, vendor inefficiency

Outcome focus

scale, governance, cost reduction, quality improvement

Enterprise design system overview spanning multiple branded experiences
Recovered overview image from the live enterprise design system case study.

The enterprise problem

A global enterprise was operating across hundreds of disconnected digital properties with inconsistent user experiences, duplicated delivery effort, and growing legal and reputational risk caused by accessibility gaps.

How we built the engine for scale

  1. Built an initial divisional V1 to establish trust and design principles.
  2. Led the migration from Sketch to Figma.
  3. Developed a coded source of truth based on Storybook principles when off-the-shelf tooling could not handle enterprise complexity.
  4. Ran an APAC pilot across roughly 50 sites to generate hard ROI evidence.
  5. Built governance and vendor onboarding to support global rollout.
Componentized templates and theming examples from the enterprise design system
Templates and componentized pages—demonstrating theming and reusable patterns used to scale delivery across 800+ properties

What changed

The final system combined a centralized component model, theming architecture, governed delivery workflow, and accessibility reviews embedded into design system governance.

Governance workshop session used to align standards and release priorities
Governance working session—aligning standards, release cadence, and rollout priorities.

The Outcome

The program became the operational foundation for enterprise digital delivery, proving that design systems can function as a governance and scale mechanism rather than just a component library.

-40%

Production time

-50%+

Delivery costs

-50%

Vendor costs

-18%

Accessibility defects

More Work

View all work
Accessibility governance overview from the live case study

18% Accessibility defects reduced

Accessibility governance at enterprise scale

UX Design Lab turned fragmented accessibility work into a repeatable governance model by integrating standards, reviews, and delivery gates into how digital work got done, reducing defects by 18% and improving audit readiness.

AccessibilityGovernanceDesign Ops
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Unified digital ecosystem overview across multiple properties

70+ Properties unified

Operational redesign for a fragmented digital ecosystem

UX Design Lab helped a major insurance organization replace fragmented delivery, duplicated work, and team burnout with a shared system of templates, governance, and collaboration — cutting departmental costs by 20% and reducing developer dependency by 60%.

Design OpsDesign SystemsResearch
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Waterway logistics case study overview

35% Workflow improvement

Service design for complex logistics operations

UX Design Lab used immersive field research and service design to turn fragmented logistics coordination into a role-aware operational platform, improving workflows by 35%, reducing communication incidents by 21%, and cutting role involvement by 70%.

UX ResearchService DesignProduct Design
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Strategic de-risking case study overview

$900k+ Cost avoided

Strategic product de-risking before build

UX Design Lab ran a rapid diagnostic that showed 93% of the client’s issues were operational rather than software-related, helping leadership avoid an unnecessary build and redirect investment into a clearer service roadmap.

StrategyService DesignDiagnostics
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IVF support app case study overview

45 days Delivery timeline

Rapid product design for a high-stakes health experience

UX Design Lab designed a mission-critical IVF support experience under extreme timeline pressure, using a global follow-the-sun workflow to deliver a high-fidelity prototype in 45 days and help support the client’s next funding round.

Product DesignMobile UXPrototyping
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