BMO
Product Designer — Design Systems & CMS Migration
May 2023 – Present
May 2023 – Present
At BMO, I contribute to the enterprise design system and public library of modules that power the bank’s public-facing digital ecosystem. My work bridges design, content, and development — ensuring that every experience we ship is accessible, consistent, and scalable across multiple lines of business.
The Challenge
As BMO moved toward a unified content management ecosystem, the design team needed to
• Standardize components and modules used across different lines of business.
• Reduce redundancy in design and development efforts.
• Ensure accessibility and responsiveness across all breakpoints and devices.
• Streamline collaboration between designers, developers, and content teams.
• The main challenge was scaling a design system for a large, multi-stakeholder organization while balancing governance, flexibility, and creative expression.
My Role
As a Product Designer on the CMS and Design System team, I focus on:
• Design System Maintenance: Evolving the visual language, spacing, and structure of reusable modules to ensure accessibility and design consistency.
• Module Design & Governance: Collaborating with developers, content strategists, and QA to build, amend, and test modules and forms across the public library.
• Consultation & Auditing: Auditing designs across multiple business lines and consulting with run-team designers to align their work with design system standards.
• Training & Support: Providing ongoing training for designers on system usage, accessibility compliance, and module configuration.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partnering with digital managers, product owners, and content leads to solution problems, validate requirements, and ensure a cohesive end-to-end user experience.
The Process
My process combines design governance, collaboration, and iterative refinement:
1. Audit & Discovery — Conducted visual and structural audits across hundreds of pages to identify reusable patterns, accessibility gaps, and areas for improvement.
2. Collaboration & Co-Creation — Worked alongside content strategists, developers, and QA to ensure modules functioned as intended, resolving defects and refining specifications.
3. Design System Evolution — Updated and expanded design documentation, ensuring components reflected the latest accessibility standards, responsive rules, and usage guidance.
4. Enablement & Training — Facilitated sessions with designers to improve adoption of the system, reinforcing consistency across lines of business.
5. Continuous Improvement — Partnered with product owners and run teams to prioritize design debt, validate new use cases, and refine module behavior through iterative releases.
Outcomes
• Improved consistency and scalability across multiple lines of business by aligning designs with system standards.
• Strengthened collaboration between design, development, and content, improving defect resolution and production efficiency.
• Enhanced documentation and governance for smoother onboarding and clearer implementation guidance.
• Supported BMO’s enterprise migration strategy, enabling a more efficient and unified approach to content delivery.
Reflection
This project deepened my experience in systems thinking and cross-functional design operations.
It reinforced how accessibility, governance, and collaboration are essential in maintaining a healthy design ecosystem — especially at enterprise scale.
It reinforced how accessibility, governance, and collaboration are essential in maintaining a healthy design ecosystem — especially at enterprise scale.
While the BMO design system and module library are not publicly available due to confidentiality, I can share select examples and design process documentation upon request.
