PROJECT OVERVIEW

PROJECT SCOPE

Owner: Coca-Cola HBC
Role: UX Lead, Design System Product Owner
Project type: Design System Creation & UX Transformation
Deliverables:

Company-wide UX transformation
Design governance framework
Unified UX strategy
New design system
Figma component library
Usage guidelines

Status: Ongoing (updated 2025)

STORY

From 2022 to 2025, I led the end-to-end UX transformation at Coca-Cola HBC as the only internal UX resource. For four years, I managed all UX and DesignOps activities, collaborating exclusively with external vendors and contractors. My mission was to unify fragmented digital experiences, establish robust governance, and elevate the maturity of UX practices across the organization. Despite frequent organizational changes and the absence of an internal team, I drove the creation and adoption of a comprehensive design system, mentored external designers, and ensured consistency and quality across all digital products.

UX Solution

Design System: Conceived, built, and rolled out the first complete design system for CCHBC, including a Figma component library and detailed usage guidelines.

Governance: Established design governance processes, centralized design assets, and introduced standardized workflows for all external vendors.

Strategic Projects: Led UX research, redesign, and implementation for high-priority platforms such as the Customer Portal, Employee Experience, and Intelligent Nerve Center.

Mentoring & Support: Provided continuous mentorship to external designers, organized accessibility workshops, and supported business teams in understanding and scoping UX needs.

Resilience: Maintained and advanced the UX vision single-handedly, even during periods of high pressure, team restructuring, and vendor turnover.

“People ignore design that ignores people.” — Frank Chimero

Applying this principle, fragmented experiences were unified into a coherent, user-centered ecosystem powered by a scalable design system.

The Approach

Initial Assessment: Conducted a comprehensive analysis of inherited digital products, identifying critical usability issues and gaps in design processes.

Methodology: Introduced Design Sprint and agile UX methodologies, running bi-weekly sprints and regular UX maturity checks.

DesignOps: Centralized all design files in the cloud, set up versioning and naming conventions, and built shared libraries to facilitate collaboration with vendors.

Collaboration: Organized daily design studio calls and biweekly alignments to ensure cross-project consistency, despite working with a fully external team.

Continuous Improvement: Led co-design workshops, usability testing, and heuristic evaluations to iteratively improve products and processes.

Governance & Sustainability: Drafted and implemented governance frameworks, managed resource allocation, and advocated for clear UX roles and career paths.