Design System Efficiency Curve. We were nearing the inflection point where returns would start to compound.
As Director of Product Design at Madhive, I joined an engineering-led initiative to rebuild the platform from the ground up, alongside a senior designer from my team. Campaign Management had accumulated years of hard-coded logic and bolted-on features that made it slow to build on. We built a new design system and redesigned the core workflows. After two years the project was shut down without shipping a single feature.
What we had was two years of design work in Figma. The designs were code-agnostic. I made the case to salvage them.
When the rebuild project was shut down, I saw an opportunity. The design system and updated workflows we had built were solid and code-agnostic. One of the product teams had already been organically rebuilding components in React as part of their net new feature work, meaning we were approximately 75% through the upfront investment without even trying.
I prepared the data, built the case, and presented at Madhive's annual product development offsite. Part of that presentation included the Design System Efficiency Curve, which showed exactly where we stood. We were nearing the inflection point. The hard work was mostly done. What I needed was commitment to finish it.
Design System Efficiency Curve. We were nearing the inflection point where returns would start to compound.
The numbers made a clear case: the design system wasn't just a quality investment, it was a financial one, with returns that compounded over time.
With executive buy-in secured, we turned our attention to Campaign Management. The approach was phased, page by page, using the new Madhive Design System components throughout, so development could keep shipping while we progressively rebuilt the legacy workflow underneath.
I partnered closely with engineering and product to align on goals, define requirements, and maintain momentum through regular check-ins. Every refactored page retained its distinct function while finally sharing a consistent visual and interaction language. No big-bang rewrites. No shipping freezes.
Campaign Management before the refactor
Campaign Management rebuilt using the new Madhive Design System
The refactor simplified the codebase, eliminated the patchwork logic that was slowing the team down, and made it possible to ship new features without the weeks of excavation that used to be required.
What started as a salvage effort became a strategic win. The Madhive Design System moved from a Figma file to shared infrastructure, with dedicated resources to maintain and evolve it. Campaign Management went from a liability to a platform.