InVision Case Studies Shopify's Innovative Approach to Unifying User Experience Across Multiple Locations

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	Shopify's Innovative Approach to Unifying User Experience Across Multiple Locations InVision

Shopify's Innovative Approach to Unifying User Experience Across Multiple Locations

InVision

Technology Category	Sensors - Level Sensors
Applicable Industries	E-Commerce Education
Applicable Functions	Maintenance Product Research & Development
Use Cases	Speech Recognition Time Sensitive Networking
Services	System Integration Testing & Certification
Challenge	Shopify, a leading e-commerce software company, faced a significant challenge in maintaining a unified user experience across its broad portfolio of products and services. With over 3,000 employees spread across five locations, the task of ensuring a consistent design philosophy and voice was daunting. The company needed a solution that would allow them to maintain their design DNA while also providing room for exploration and expansion. Additionally, the company's decentralized organizational structure, while promoting autonomy and leadership, posed potential risks such as isolation of designers and a weakened design culture. Read More
About Customer	Shopify is a leading e-commerce software company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The company was co-founded by Daniel Weinand, who ensured that design was a fundamental part of Shopify's DNA from the very beginning. Today, Shopify has a team of design leaders who continue to evolve the role of design in everything the company creates. With over 3,000 employees spread across five locations, Shopify offers a broad portfolio of products and services. Despite its size and complexity, the company is known for its unified user experience and innovative design philosophy. Read More
Solution	Shopify addressed these challenges by developing Polaris, a comprehensive design system that encapsulates the company's style, voice, and design philosophy. Polaris is staffed like a product, with a dedicated team responsible for its maintenance and growth. Rather than being a rigid standard, Polaris serves as a baseline for all designs to build upon, allowing plenty of room for exploration and expansion. To further unify efforts, Shopify implemented regular alignment meetings between design, engineering, product, and the CEO. The company also hosts local cross-UX meetups and an annual internal conference, UX Summit, to share current work and discuss challenges and opportunities. The company's organizational structure was also adjusted to better reflect the level of leadership and autonomy they wanted their teams to have across the company. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Sensors - Level Sensors

Applicable Industries

E-Commerce

Education

Applicable Functions

Maintenance

Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Speech Recognition

Time Sensitive Networking

Services

System Integration

Testing & Certification

Challenge

Shopify, a leading e-commerce software company, faced a significant challenge in maintaining a unified user experience across its broad portfolio of products and services. With over 3,000 employees spread across five locations, the task of ensuring a consistent design philosophy and voice was daunting. The company needed a solution that would allow them to maintain their design DNA while also providing room for exploration and expansion. Additionally, the company's decentralized organizational structure, while promoting autonomy and leadership, posed potential risks such as isolation of designers and a weakened design culture.

About Customer

Shopify is a leading e-commerce software company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The company was co-founded by Daniel Weinand, who ensured that design was a fundamental part of Shopify's DNA from the very beginning. Today, Shopify has a team of design leaders who continue to evolve the role of design in everything the company creates. With over 3,000 employees spread across five locations, Shopify offers a broad portfolio of products and services. Despite its size and complexity, the company is known for its unified user experience and innovative design philosophy.

Solution

Shopify addressed these challenges by developing Polaris, a comprehensive design system that encapsulates the company's style, voice, and design philosophy. Polaris is staffed like a product, with a dedicated team responsible for its maintenance and growth. Rather than being a rigid standard, Polaris serves as a baseline for all designs to build upon, allowing plenty of room for exploration and expansion. To further unify efforts, Shopify implemented regular alignment meetings between design, engineering, product, and the CEO. The company also hosts local cross-UX meetups and an annual internal conference, UX Summit, to share current work and discuss challenges and opportunities. The company's organizational structure was also adjusted to better reflect the level of leadership and autonomy they wanted their teams to have across the company.

Impact #1	The implementation of Polaris and the adjustments to Shopify's organizational structure have resulted in a more unified and consistent user experience across the company's broad portfolio of products and services. The design system has been admired throughout the design community for its comprehensive representation of Shopify's style, voice, and design philosophy. The regular alignment meetings, local cross-UX meetups, and annual UX Summit have fostered a culture of collaboration and alignment across the company. The decentralized organizational structure has promoted autonomy and leadership, while also building resilience as employees develop collaboration skills to address the challenges of working separately. The company's commitment to design is further demonstrated by the VP of UX reporting directly to the CPO, ensuring that design is part of key strategic plans.

Impact #1

The implementation of Polaris and the adjustments to Shopify's organizational structure have resulted in a more unified and consistent user experience across the company's broad portfolio of products and services. The design system has been admired throughout the design community for its comprehensive representation of Shopify's style, voice, and design philosophy. The regular alignment meetings, local cross-UX meetups, and annual UX Summit have fostered a culture of collaboration and alignment across the company. The decentralized organizational structure has promoted autonomy and leadership, while also building resilience as employees develop collaboration skills to address the challenges of working separately. The company's commitment to design is further demonstrated by the VP of UX reporting directly to the CPO, ensuring that design is part of key strategic plans.

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Overview

Shopify's Innovative Approach to Unifying User Experience Across Multiple Locations

Operational Impact