Terra- Workhuman's Design System: Navigating Innovation and Consistency in Tech

In the fast-paced world of technology and innovation, having a clear and organized design system is like a reliable compass that helps steer the way when creating new products. Workhuman has adopted systematic design as a way of working through the creation of our design system, Terra.  

A design system is a structured collection of design elements, guidelines, and assets (components) that are created and maintained to ensure consistency and cohesiveness in the design of products, services, or digital experiences. It serves as a comprehensive reference and toolkit for designers, developers, and other stakeholders involved in a project, helping them create a unified and visually pleasing user interface. 

Our Terra Design System was brought to life just over two years ago, conceived with the vision of unifying our user interfaces and experiences across our diverse suite of products. This initiative reflects our dedication to enhancing the user journey, ensuring consistency, and adhering to best practices in design. 

In recognition of its innovative design approach and collaborative ethos, Terra has earned a nomination for the Best Collaboration category in the inaugural Design System Awards. This nomination is a significant milestone, and truly demonstrates two of our core values: Innovation and Respect for Teamwork. It signifies the collective effort, collaboration, and shared objectives that have led to the creation of a design system that not only benefits the company but also enriches the experience of our users. 

“Terra's nomination is a reflection of our tireless pursuit of design and front-end excellence. It’s a testament to the collaboration, contributions and support from not just Platform, but from all teams who have embraced Terra as a way to craft experiences that inspire and delight. Being shortlisted for this award against some big competition should be a very proud moment for us all." VP of Product Design, Ger Fitzgerald 

At the helm of Terra is the Platform UX team, a team of Product Designers, Front-End Engineers, Quality assurance specialists, Product Managers and a Web-Accessibility expert. Terra, is managed and maintained through a hybrid model of this central team plus a wide network of contributors spanning the 12 product development teams that are adopting the system in the creation of their interfaces. This broad involvement allows for a diversity of perspectives, insights, and experiences to be integrated into the design system. The collective knowledge and creativity of these teams elevate Terra to a standard of excellence and they are the reason Terra is now an award-nominated system.  

Terra has had a huge impact on product development and is enabling efficiency across all teams with components that are fully responsive and already meeting accessibility guidelines. This allows for faster development especially for proofs of concept and pages for experimentation within products- up to 90% faster in some cases i.e. 1 sprint to 1 day development time!  

Terra is also an important enabler for the achievement of business results across numerous product development teams, particularly on our eCommerce platform following a modernisation effort and adoption of Terra. Indeed, Terra has become synchronous with tech stack modernisation efforts across Workhuman.  

Our products are now visually more consistent than ever before and this leads to more predictable experiences for our customers. We are really looking forward to the future of Terra and see how it continues to help us evolve and grow as a company. 

We are counting down until the Design Awards ceremony and in the meantime, we ask you for your help in voting for the Terra Design System here.Opens in a new tab