Design Ops · Leslie’s
Designing a Scalable Creative Workflow
I led Leslie’s move from fragmented Adobe files to a shared Figma system—redesigning the libraries, review flow, and team habits that reduced campaign production time by approximately 15–20%.
From first layout to handoff compared with the previous Adobe-based process.
Shared files and libraries replaced scattered versions and uncertain handoffs.
I designed both the tools and the working habits that made the change stick.
Every review created another file—and another chance to lose the source of truth.
Creative lived in separate Adobe files while feedback arrived through email, chat, and documents. Each round produced more copies, more handoffs, and more uncertainty. As the number of contributors grew, even a basic question became difficult to answer: which version is current?
I treated the migration as a workflow problem, not a software rollout.
I mapped where work slowed down, where ownership became unclear, and where reviews created duplicate effort. Then I designed a creative-operations system around those moments: shared files, reusable libraries, clear ownership, and a review rhythm the team could follow. The goal was not to introduce Figma. It was to make every new project easier to build than the last.
Build consistency into the process—not the final review.
Reusable components replaced copied-and-pasted artwork, while shared libraries gave everyone the same current building blocks. Brand consistency no longer depended on someone catching every small mistake at the end of production.
A library only creates value when the team trusts how to use it.
I paired the files and components with simple working agreements: where feedback belongs, how versions are named, when a file is ready, and who owns the next step. Those habits turned Figma from another tool into the team’s day-to-day workspace.
The first system protected consistency—and blocked adoption.
My first version was too restrictive. I over-governed the components to protect the brand, and the team felt boxed in, so part of the work stayed in Adobe. For roughly a month, two parallel workflows made production slower rather than faster. I responded by opening more editable properties and accepting slightly less control in exchange for meaningful adoption. The lesson was clear: the harder design problem was not consistency. It was trust.
The real outcome was not a cleaner file. It was a more dependable way of working. Once the system flexed to fit the team, production time fell, handoff gaps narrowed, and Figma became the place the work actually happened.
