KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: DESIGN GUIDELINES WEBSITE (DLS)
Company: Tableau
Project: Scaling Design Standards & Centralizing Knowledge
Role: Senior UX Designer
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Tableau's critical design guidelines existed solely as a 200-page PDF for over two years. This outdated format created massive friction: it was slow to update, difficult to search, and nearly impossible to evangelize across the growing organization. This lack of centralized, accessible knowledge directly led to widespread inconsistency in component usage and patterns across the platform.
The Problem: Fragmentation and Inefficient Knowledge Transfer
The How: Leading the Digital Transformation of Design Standards
I took the lead on converting this monumental document to a fully functional, online, and usable format. My role was one of end-to-end execution and systems development:
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Architectural Build: I created the page designs, layouts, and all visuals for the website, building the section entirely in the Content Management System (CMS).
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Content Strategy & IA: I leveraged the existing IA from the PDF but partnered with content writers to rewrite and pare down copy, making the standards easily scannable.
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System Standardization: I worked with the visual design team to define a workable grid layout and created the framework for component documentation—including redlines and examples of correct vs. incorrect usage—to eliminate ambiguity for designers.
The Result: Increased Consistency and Design Efficiency
The launch of the Design Guidelines Site (DLS) was a significant success. Moving to an online format made the guidelines easier to update and allowed the design team to effectively evangelize standards across the organization. This delivered a massive operational benefit: the entire organization could easily access the guidelines, which increased component consistency and brought tangible efficiency to the overall design process.