Design System
Platform Architecture
UI
What is Factorial
Factorial is a HR management platform that simplifies and automates core HR processes for small and medium-sized businesses. The platform consolidates essential HR functions—including employee data management, attendance tracking, payroll, recruitment, and performance evaluation—into a single interface.
The project
As Factorial's platform expanded, the design team implemented quick solutions for immediate needs. While this agile approach maintained momentum, it came at a cost—the team hadn't considered how these isolated decisions would affect the platform's overall coherence.
The consequences became evident: users, designers, and developers encountered inconsistencies, bugs, and a fragmented interface. The once-streamlined product grew complex and difficult to navigate. The team recognized the need for change.
This is where the Factorial One initiative comes in...
Factorial One
Factorial One emerged as a new design system and set of principles to unify the user experience across the platform. Our goal is straightforward: solve more problems with fewer patterns.
The platform's fragmentation was limiting our ability to scale. Teams were spending valuable time recreating patterns, leading to slower development cycles and persistent bugs. This created confusion for everyone from customers to account managers, designers, and developers.
At its heart, Factorial One represents a cultural shift in our approach to design systems and product design. It encourages us to embrace constraints as the main driver for a consistent user experience. Instead of creating unique interfaces for each product, we're thinking horizontally—using common building blocks to solve diverse problems.
Simply put, we want to build one platform, not thirty standalone products!
My role
Since joining Factorial in July 2024, I've been part of the Factorial One initiative, transforming it from concept to reality. My focus has been building a cohesive design system to revolutionize our platform's user experience.
Factorial One Visual Language
One of my key achievements was creating the Factorial One visual language from scratch. This ambitious project laid a new design foundation for the entire platform. I invested my first month redesigning the main screens across 80% of the platform to identify common patterns. This intensive work led me to design the core component base that now powers all F1 initiatives, ensuring consistency and quality throughout the platform. Through this process, I crafted a visual language that strikes the perfect balance between aesthetic excellence and functional clarity, establishing a new standard for design craft at Factorial.
Navigation Architecture & Redesign
In Q4 2024, I worked on the Navigation redesign initiative, establishing new navigation patterns that now power all of Factorial's products. Through close collaboration with stakeholders, I developed a comprehensive information architecture to simplify user journeys across the platform. I designed intuitive navigation elements—including tabs and breadcrumbs—to provide clear wayfinding throughout the product.
Resource Unification
I developed the Resource and Resource Header concept, a critical F1 component that transformed how we handle entity variations across the platform. Instead of maintaining dozens of different patterns, I created a single, consistent solution that brought clarity and uniformity to our system.
This work established a predictable structure for all Resource pages, reduced design and development overhead by eliminating redundant patterns, and enabled new platform-wide features like Favorites. The systematic approach simplified our codebase while creating a more intuitive user experience.
Data Collection
The Data Collection component was designed as a versatile, scalable solution for presenting data in various formats—tables, lists, and Kanban boards. The design process started with an in-depth analysis of user needs and platform requirements, focusing on creating a component that could adapt to different contexts while maintaining consistency and usability.
To ensure scalability, we built the component with a modular architecture. Each data format (tables, lists, Kanban) functions as a variation of the core Data Collection component, sharing common elements like headers, filters, and action buttons. This approach reduced redundancy while ensuring a consistent user experience across all formats.
Cross-team Collaboration
Beyond my direct contributions to Foundations and Factorial One, I've made a broader impact across multiple teams. As Staff Designer, I've provided guidance and expertise across various domains, helping teams elevate their design work and maintain consistency throughout the platform.
What were the benefits and impact?
The revamp of our design system has had far-reaching effects across the business, extending well beyond user experience improvements.
Most notably, we've accelerated our design and development cycles. The establishment of reusable building blocks for both designers and developers has eliminated redundant pattern creation—a true game-changer for team efficiency.
Platform quality has improved remarkably. By implementing fewer, more versatile patterns, we've systematically eliminated bugs and inconsistencies across all surfaces.
Most significantly, this work has driven a cultural transformation. Through Factorial One, I've restored the importance of craft and attention to detail in our product culture, embodying these values in a concrete design language.