Ustwo / iShares Design System
April 2020 - Present
Building a scalable, inclusive system for the world’s largest ETF provider
As the global lockdown began in April 2020, I joined London-based product studio ustwo to lead the iShares Design System project.
Our goal was to craft a comprehensive system that would deliver a consistent, accessible digital experience for millions of iShares investors worldwide.
Over the past five years, I have led the team in establishing clear design standards, building a robust library of reusable components, and empowering iShares teams to implement the system effectively — ensuring consistency, accessibility, and alignment with the brand’s evolving goals.
15%
Increase in website accessibility rating
Key stats
50%
Speed efficiency improvement with Figma design kit
4/5
InVision Design Maturity Score for iShares®
The opportunity
In 2018, iShares unveiled a new global identity, setting them apart in the asset management industry. This visual language, featuring a vibrant color palette and bold all-caps type, needed translation into multifaceted digital experiences.
As the global leader in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), iShares serves a broad audience through a network of sites managed by local and global teams. The challenge iShares set for ustwo was to make the new design language effective across diverse areas such as fund comparison and content storytelling.
ustwo hired me as my design system expertise made me an ideal candidate to lead this work.
Previous iShares branding and the 2018 visual identity.
The goal
To address these brand challenges, at ustwo we posed a clear question:
How could we express the identity in a scalable and efficient way to serve the diverse needs of internal audiences across the business?
The iShares Design System was our answer.
From the beginning, we treated the design system like a product that would evolve continuously to ensure future success.
It needed to be versatile and comprehensive, making it easier for teams with multiple needs and goals to create engaging customer experiences.
We started with three main parts: a documentation site, a design kit and a front-end library.
The approach
As an internal product we had two clear customer groups:
200+ customers
Who use the design system to complete their day jobs. Publishers, Marketers, Designers and Developers.70 partners
Whose feedback and insight we need to create a relevant and useful design system.
Our approach followed these key principles:
Design systems are products with users; understanding their needs and jobs-to-be-done is paramount.
Design systems should help teams consistently solve user needs while allowing flexibility and creating space for creativity.
Effective design systems extend beyond neat Figma files, including implementation guidelines, help guides and education sessions.
The design kit
Acknowledging the diverse needs of designers, developers, publishers, content marketers, and external agencies, we ensured the iShares design system has become the single source of truth across the organisation.
The Design kit (in Figma) is a library of design styles and reusable UI elements that designers and developers at iShares® can drag/drop, and customise to build new web pages in half the time.
Moving the design kit from Sketch to Figma increased Kyle's design speed and efficiency by 75%.
Documentation and
front-end library
It’s no use building a design system for multiple teams and markets, if there aren’t clear guidelines for using it. So, the second element we built was a documentation site where customers can find information about the design system, including usage rules, onboarding documents, design components and instructional videos.
We also built a front-end library that allows the iShares® teams to play with live components independent of the content management system (CMS) to experience how their content would behave in the end product.
Four years later, we continue to assess the design kit, documentation site, component library and CMS guidance against the requirements of the organisation’s diverse teams, to ensure we’re including everything they need to do their jobs efficiently.
Business impact
Accessibility
Designing for customers with varying and diverse accessibility needs was crucial. We rolled out a new fluid typography scale and grid enhancements to reduce content size and make line lengths more comfortable for readability, especially for people who use screen readers.
We ensured every website component had the correct heading tags and aria labels. We also released a video player with transcript viewing, audio description and captioning to ensure a better user experience. Overall, we improved the iShares® website accessibility rating by 15%.
Localisation
Providing a better regional experience for international customers, catering to specific markets.
We developed specific type styles and components that can account for different characters in German words and many other languages. These improvements cater to iShares® APAC, Japan and China markets, providing a truly localised experience.
Future-Proofing
The design system reduced design and development costs, enabling teams to build faster, more scalable digital experiences.
Employees at iShares® now have more time to be creative and can quickly release new content, website updates and products into the market. This, in turn, benefits end customers who can now enjoy a consistent experience across any device and can find expert investment advice and insights easily.
Looking to the future
A successful design system is dynamic. The iShares Design System is continuing to evolve alongside the organisation's growing needs. Today, I am leading the transition from a single-brand system to a multi-brand system, ensuring both iShares and the broader BlackRock brand are consistently and efficiently supported.
In parallel, we are guiding the organisation through a company-wide CMS platform migration, ensuring the design system remains a stable foundation for future growth.
This next phase of work focuses on strengthening scalability, broadening global adoption, and ensuring that teams across multiple brands and markets can create cohesive, accessible digital experiences with greater speed and confidence.
This project has been an enriching opportunity to apply creative problem-solving, technical leadership, and system thinking to drive innovation in the fintech industry — and to help shape the future of digital investment experiences.