By the time I joined, core concepts had been explored but not yet translated into a production-ready system. Patterns were expressive but inconsistent. Accessibility, performance, and compliance issues remained unresolved.
My role was to carry the work over the finish line—turning concepts into system-backed patterns, resolving blockers, and working closely with engineering to ship cleanly.
The original experience scattered content across multiple pages, breaking user orientation. We consolidated everything into a single scrollable flow with chapter navigation, shortening the experience while maintaining depth. Users could now scan, pause, and dive deeper without losing context.
Early designs had focus order failures, contrast issues, and interactions that broke at different screen sizes. Instead of fixing page-by-page, we resolved issues at the pattern level—rethinking component heights, simplifying interactions, and defining clear responsive rules.
Treating accessibility as a constraint improved overall design quality. Layouts became clearer, interactions more predictable, and content easier to consume across devices.
Lifetime Income wasn't a one-off. We consolidated overlapping patterns into a smaller, system-backed set. New patterns were introduced only where required, with clear variants, tokens, and responsive rules documented for engineering.
Implementation friction dropped. Engineers stopped needing clarification, designers built with confidence, and the framework now supports future storytelling experiences across TIAA.
Lifetime Income was not designed as a one-off page. It was built as the first proof point of a broader storytelling framework.
Overlapping patterns were consolidated into a smaller, system-backed set. New patterns were introduced only where the system required them, with clear variants, tokens, and responsive rules.
As documentation matured, implementation friction dropped. Engineers stopped needing clarification, designers built with confidence, and governance became enforceable without slowing teams down.
