5 teams in parallel, zero conflicts. Design system for Zanichelli
Challenge
Zanichelli was scaling its digital products division fast: five supplier teams working in parallel, no shared component library, no governance model. Each team was making independent decisions. The system was accumulating inconsistencies faster than anyone could resolve them.
Deliverables
- Governance model and versioning strategy
- Design System (Albe)
- Cross-team alignment workshops
Approach
UX Tech Lead within the Fifth Beat team, responsible for design system governance across a €300K/year programme. My counterparts were designers and developers distributed across multiple agencies. I redefined the governance model and versioning strategy for Albe, Zanichelli's design system, giving the five teams a shared language and clear rules for contribution, ownership, and conflict resolution. I managed the roadmap and kept the system coherent as the product surface grew. The goal wasn't to build components. It was to make parallel work possible without chaos.
How we got there
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People-focused research
Through narrative interviews, usability tests and contextual inquiry I identified patterns and significant evidence to redesign Zanichelli's digital services for teachers and students.
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Agile method
I approached the system redesign with short iterative cycles: test, identify criticalities, prioritise, redesign, retest. This ensured flexibility and strong stakeholder engagement throughout.
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Design System
I drafted guidelines to facilitate the growth, maintenance and creation of new products while maintaining visual, structural and navigation pattern consistency across Albe.
Outcome
Five supplier teams collaborating in parallel, without conflicts. The system is still in production and actively maintained: the most honest signal that the governance model held.