Create a Community-Driven Platform

How Might We...

... enable intuitive and seamless user interaction on demo components, and encourage more contribution amongst Solutions Engineers at Salesforce?

Approach

Lead junior design team through research and design. High level steps:

• research to uncover strength and limitations of system in place;
• visual wireframing to validate transformative approach with targeted audience;
• mobile-first hi-fi design leveraging Salesforce Lightning Design System;

Define API-first system architecture that surfaces packages from multiple secured endpoints.

Develop custom prototyping platform in NodeJS leveraging Salesforce Lightning Design System components to eliminate redlining and optimize transition from design to code.

Implement componentized UI prototype to enforce UI development standardization best practices.

Outcomes

1. First end-to-end design project at Salesforce for a team of young professionals.
2. Eventual handover of user support and content management to a dedicated team.
3. Metrics a couple of years after launch:
   • 8.8K+ active users
   • 960+ maintained components
   • 41K+ component installs

Key Learnings

• Designing mobile-first promotes clarity and simplicity. It forces you to prioritize essential information and structure it in a way that’s easy for users to consume, leading to cleaner, more effective designs.
• It takes a village to build, launch, support, and evolve a product. Orchestration hinges on strategic alignment—getting the right people moving in the right direction at the right time.
• Keeping the end user front and center isn’t just a design principle—it’s a critical driver of success. When teams align around user outcomes, decision-making sharpens, priorities become clearer, and products deliver real impact.