Design system foundations
In 2019, I contributed to the development of our first style guide alongside the practice design team, working closely with developers to define and build shared, reusable UI components. While the visual language has evolved since then, the foundational structure and principles we established continue to inform the interface today. My focus was on designing scalable, responsive card patterns and contributing to a component library that improved consistency, maintainability, and supported future product expansion.
Overview
The challenge
The scale and diversity of TUI's digital products made it difficult to maintain consistent user experiences across teams and platforms. Design and development practices were fragmented, making it challenging to reuse components, align teams, and keep the entire ecosystem up to date. With operations across 180 countries with multiple brands and platforms, creating a unified yet flexible design system was essential.
Research & Discovery
Understanding traveler behavior
Understanding traveler behaviour was key to improving TUI's digital experience. Millions of users struggled with inconsistent interfaces, abandoned bookings when switching devices, and often missed key services like hotels, city breaks. Insights like these drove the creation of a unified design system, bringing consistency, reducing friction, and making every step of the traveler journey clear, intuitive, and seamless.
The Solution
A unified travel experience
Visual design shapes emotional connections, helping to inspire, reassure, and guide customers through the holiday booking journey. With the introduction of a new styleguide, we created engaging, consistent experiences that support usability while managing the emotions customers feel; excitement, curiosity, doubt, or stress. Thoughtful content, visual choices, and standardised interface patterns ensure customers can navigate confidently and enjoyably, while giving teams a scalable foundation to evolve the platform on-brand and on-trend.
Impact & Results
Moving the teams that move the needle
Design systems don’t move conversion rates directly — they move the teams that do. Over three years at TUI, the results were in how design and engineering worked together.
Component handoff time reduced by ~25%. UI inconsistencies across UK and Nordics platforms fell by ~45% within 18 months. Around 60% of new interface work drew from existing components rather than being built from scratch. The system I helped establish in 2019 still informs the product today.
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