Design System
UI/UX Design
Case Study
Cerebrum
Info
Client
Year
2020 - 2021
Role
Product Designer
Tool Used
Sketch
Product Overview
Cerebrum is a cutting-edge SaaS tool meticulously crafted to empower insurance-based companies in their data and analytics endeavour's. With a suite of integrated features, it simplifies the process of data management, reporting, and market analysis.
Key Features:
Data Management Excellence: Cerebrum's central mission is to streamline data management for insurance companies. It simplifies the input and tracking of daily data by all employees, ensuring that essential information is readily available.
Insightful Reports with PowerBi: Utilizing PowerBi, Cerebrum allows for the creation of multiple reports. These reports provide in-depth insights into market trends and other critical data, aiding companies in making informed decisions.
Efficiency with PowerApps: Cerebrum leverages PowerApps to enable seamless data input and tracking. This feature keeps the pulse on ongoing developments in the insurance market, helping businesses stay agile and responsive.
Intuitive Web App: The web application aspect of Cerebrum offers a user-friendly experience. It presents a wide range of dashboards that consolidate essential links for PowerBi and PowerApps, making it easy for users to navigate and access vital resources.
Cerebrum is more than just a tool; it's a holistic solution for insurance-based companies seeking to optimise their data management, reporting, and analytical capabilities, ultimately ensuring a competitive edge in the market.
Benefits
Effortless Data Management: Cerebrum simplifies data input and tracking for employees, reducing the administrative burden and ensuring data accuracy.
Informed Decision-Making: With PowerBi's multiple reports, Cerebrum empowers companies to analyze market trends, providing the insights needed for strategic, data-driven decisions.
Market Agility: Cerebrum's use of PowerApps allows companies to track ongoing changes in the insurance market, helping them adapt swiftly to evolving customer needs and industry dynamics.
User-Friendly Experience: The intuitive web app enhances user experience, offering convenient access to essential links and resources, saving time and increasing overall efficiency.
Competitive Edge: By streamlining data and analytics, Cerebrum enables insurance companies to operate more efficiently and make data-driven decisions, ultimately positioning them ahead of the competition.
Cerebrum brings a range of benefits that not only simplify operations but also equip insurance companies with the tools to thrive in the dynamic insurance industry.
Problem
Platform Complexity: Designing a cohesive system for three platforms, each with its unique limitations and interaction design challenges, posed a considerable hurdle.
Lack of Brand Guidance: The absence of prior brand guidelines or design systems from GRP parent necessitated building the Cerebrum design system from the ground up, within a constrained timeframe.
Parallel Development: Simultaneously developing the design system while progressing with other platform development created a demanding workload, requiring effective coordination and prioritisation.
Navigating these challenges, Cerebrum aimed to establish a unified and efficient solution for insurance companies, offering data management, reporting, and analytical capabilities to stay competitive in the market.
Research
Drawing from insights provided by existing design systems like Carbon, Ant, and Material Design, the research focused on identifying best practices, design standards, and adaptable components that could inform the development of a robust and versatile design system. Furthermore, understanding the distinct interaction design limitations for each of the three platforms (React, PowerBi, and PowerApps) was pivotal. This research was geared towards harmonising design elements across the platforms, accommodating their unique requirements and constraints. In sum, the research endeavours were central to creating a comprehensive, efficient, and adaptable design system that ensures consistency and user-friendliness across diverse platforms within the specified timeframe.
Design Process
Cerebrum employs a design-driven approach to develop user-friendly solutions. This strategy entails a thorough understanding of user needs, a process of prototyping, and iterative testing to achieve an optimal user experience.
Key principles guiding Cerebrum's design philosophy include:
User-Centric Focus: The team priorities understanding user requirements and customising solutions to effectively meet them.
Simplicity Emphasis: Solutions are consciously crafted to be uncomplicated and user-friendly, ensuring a straightforward user experience.
Scalability in Mind: Cerebrum designs solutions with scalability at the forefront, ensuring adaptability and growth in line with the evolving requirements of the client's business.
Research Phase
Research Phase
Synthesis Phase
Ideation Phase
Implementation Phase
Logo Design
Information Architecture
Design Principles
Design Principles for the Cerebrum Design System:
User-Centric Approach: The design system places users at the core, emphasising a deep understanding of their needs and tailoring solutions to meet them effectively.
Simplicity and Intuitiveness: Solutions within the Cerebrum design system are consciously crafted to be straightforward and user-friendly, ensuring a seamless and intuitive user experience.
Built for Scalability: The design system takes scalability into account, ensuring that it can adapt and expand alongside the evolving requirements of the client's business, promoting long-term sustainability and growth.
Problem resolution
A design system tackles the following key challenges:
Inconsistent Design: It establishes a cohesive look and feel across all products and platforms, reducing ambiguity and enhancing brand recognition.
Design Debt: By streamlining design elements, a design system enhances team efficiency, cutting down the time and resources needed for developing new products and platforms.
Collaboration: Offering a common language and resources, a design system facilitates effective teamwork and cooperation among different teams.
Scalability: The design system serves as a foundation for future design decisions, ensuring that new products and platforms align seamlessly with the brand's identity and values.
Best Practices
Key Best Practices for the Cerebrum Design System:
Gradual Expansion: Begin with essential components and incrementally extend the design system to maintain a strong foundation.
Stakeholder Involvement: Engage stakeholders across the organisation to align with brand identity and secure collective support.
Thorough Documentation: Meticulously document guidelines and components, serving as a resource for consistency and future updates.
Continuous Improvement: Regularly test and iterate to ensure the design system evolves effectively to meet user and organisational needs.
Why design system is important?
The Significance of a Design System:
A design system plays a pivotal role in streamlining the design process, fostering consistency across all products and platforms. This not only saves time and resources but also enhances the user experience while aligning designs with the brand's identity and values.
It holds paramount importance for organisations striving to deliver a seamless and consistent user experience across diverse platforms. Without a design system, teams may work independently, leading to design inconsistencies that confuse users, erode brand trust, and waste resources.
I strongly recommend adopting a design system to ensure consistency, save resources, and align design with brand values. In addition, the component library, with reusable UI elements and clear usage guidelines, further enhances the system's effectiveness.
Test
Conducted testing with 12+ users, gathering feedback.
Multiple iterations, especially for the home page.
Minor UI refinements for PowerBI and PowerApps.
Realised the need to collaborate with the dev team for an interactive search engine.
Decided to incorporate more relatable visuals, like connecting dots, for enhanced brand relevance.
Development
I revolutionised web, reports, and data design using the React Native framework, alongside PowerBI and PowerApps.
Collaborating with the exceptional developer, Birkan, on web design significantly streamlined my workflow, making project completion smoother. Our approach to reports and data entry involved harnessing the performance of PowerBI and PowerApps, with dedicated teams managing each aspect.
Visual Design
Incorporating more elements in line with the Cerebrum brand garnered highly positive feedback from both users and shareholders.
The presented UI screens are just a glimpse; additional screens can be demonstrated upon request during a screen-sharing session.
results & impacts
The development and implementation of the Cerebrum design system have yielded significant results and impactful outcomes:
Streamlined Design Process: The Cerebrum design system has efficiently streamlined the design process, enabling consistent and uniform user experiences across various platforms, including React, PowerBi, and PowerApps.
Enhanced User Experience: Users now benefit from an enhanced and intuitive user experience, thanks to the design system's user-centric approach and emphasis on simplicity and accessibility.
Time and Resource Savings: The system's meticulous documentation and clear component guidelines have saved valuable time and resources, making the design process more efficient.
Brand Alignment: The Cerebrum design system ensures a strong alignment with the brand's identity and values, reinforcing brand trust and consistency.
Competitive Edge: With the design system in place, Cerebrum and its users are better equipped to stay competitive in the insurance market, adapt to changes, and make informed, data-driven decisions.
In summary, the Cerebrum design system has not only streamlined design processes but also had a profound impact on user experience, resource efficiency, brand alignment, and the competitive edge of the organisation.
Deliverables
Conclusion
The Cerebrum design system has been a transformative journey, streamlining the design process, enhancing user experiences, and conserving valuable time and resources. It strongly aligns with the brand's identity and values, fostering trust and competitiveness in the insurance market. It stands as a testament to the power of effective design systemisation and its enduring impact on both users and the organisation.
*Respecting client NDAs and data privacy, actual data is excluded.