Kohler Design System
ProductionLead Software Engineer•October 2023 - Present•Team: 6-10 cross-functional team members
The KOHLER design system is the unified foundation for all KOHLER regions and brands, providing a single source of truth for building and maintaining digital products. This comprehensive system offers essential components, guidelines, and resources to ensure consistency and quality across all digital experiences, serving designers and developers across multiple teams and projects.
Technologies Used
ReactTypeScriptStorybookDesign TokensFigmaCSS-in-JSJestChromaticNPMMonorepo
Key Achievements
- ✓Adopted by 15+ teams across KOHLER's global digital properties
- ✓Reduced design-to-development time by 40% through standardized components
- ✓Achieved 100% WCAG 2.1 AA compliance across all components
Key Features
•Comprehensive component library with 50+ reusable UI components
•Design token system for consistent visual language across platforms
•Multi-brand theming support for different KOHLER product lines
•Accessibility-first components meeting WCAG 2.1 AA standards
•Interactive documentation with live code examples in Storybook
•Automated visual regression testing with Chromatic
•Cross-platform compatibility (Web, React Native, Angular)
•Design and development guidelines with best practices
•Module system for complex layouts and content structures
•Developer tools and CLI for easy integration and setup
Challenges
- ⚡Creating a unified system that works across multiple brands and regions
- ⚡Ensuring accessibility compliance across all components and interactions
- ⚡Managing complex design token system with multiple theme variations
- ⚡Coordinating adoption across 15+ development teams globally
- ⚡Maintaining backward compatibility while introducing new features
Solutions
- 💡Implemented flexible theming architecture with CSS custom properties
- 💡Developed comprehensive accessibility testing and documentation standards
- 💡Created automated token generation system with validation rules
- 💡Established adoption strategy with training sessions and migration guides
- 💡Used semantic versioning and deprecation warnings for smooth transitions
Achievements & Impact
🏆Adopted by 15+ teams across KOHLER's global digital properties
🏆Reduced design-to-development time by 40% through standardized components
🏆Achieved 100% WCAG 2.1 AA compliance across all components
🏆Maintained 99.9% component API stability across major releases
🏆Recognized as industry best practice in design system architecture
Lessons Learned
- 💭The critical importance of stakeholder alignment in design system success
- 💭How comprehensive documentation drives adoption and reduces support overhead
- 💭The value of automated testing in maintaining component quality at scale
- 💭How to balance flexibility with consistency in large-scale design systems