Bringing one company’s experience across a product portfolio

Problem

ServiceNow’s products lacked a consistent look, feel, and behavior. Components and interactions varied from product to product, making the portfolio feel like separate efforts rather than one company’s experience. Customers encountered different patterns as they moved between applications.

Founder Fred Luddy sponsored the change, giving the initiative clear executive backing. The challenge was translating that direction into a complete design system and coordinating its adoption across approximately 30 development teams in different countries—all within one release cycle.

Process

I led the effort with two colleagues, creating a complete design system within one month. Fred oversaw the initiative and worked closely with me to shape and approve design patterns. That direct creative partnership allowed us to explore ideas, make decisions quickly, and maintain a shared understanding of the intended experience.

Together with Development, we translated those patterns into cleanly coded, reusable components. The quality of the code gave teams a practical foundation for implementation, while Fred’s sponsorship established a clear expectation that products would adopt the system.

The most demanding part was coordinating the rollout across global development teams. I attended multiple meetings with teams in different countries to present the solution, explain the patterns, and ensure they were incorporated correctly into go-to-market products. Sustained communication helped carry a common direction across separate teams and locations.

Final implementations came through me for review before launch. Staying engaged through that stage connected the original design decisions to what customers would actually experience and provided consistent oversight across the rollout.

Solution

We established a common visual language, shared components, and consistent interaction patterns across the product portfolio. Reusable coded components gave development teams a clear foundation for applying the system in their applications.

Executive sponsorship, direct engagement with teams, and final implementation reviews supported adoption. Each team had a common direction to follow, with design oversight helping ensure that individual implementations contributed to a cohesive experience.

Outcome

The rollout replaced inconsistent patterns with a shared approach across the portfolio. Customers could move between products with more familiar components and interactions, supporting usability and trust. The products began to feel like they belonged to one company.

This work demonstrated the value of combining clear executive direction with sustained cross-functional coordination. My role connected the founder’s vision, the design system, and the work of approximately 30 development teams—carrying the intended experience through to launch.

The close partnership with Fred also extended to exploring innovative platform capabilities. It reinforced an approach that continues to shape my leadership: develop ideas together, connect design decisions to implementation, and stay engaged until the experience reaches customers.