Content Design, User Research, Visual Design, Content Strategy

A Unified Design Framework

What is the Fearless way to approach design?

What is the Fearless way
to approach design?

At Fearless, the goal was to unify and streamline the design process across teams, ensuring consistency in design practices both internally and externally. The company faced challenges in aligning various design frameworks across their projects, which created confusion regarding the design process and its internal documentation. This misalignment made it difficult to communicate their design approach to clients and limited collaboration efficiency. As part of the design team, I was tasked with developing a cohesive design framework that would clarify the design process, enhance collaboration, and help Fearless present a unified identity to clients and stakeholders.

The Challenge

While Fearless maintained strong human-centered design (HCD) principles, there were discrepancies in how different teams applied those principles and documented their processes. The design process and roles varied across departments, and internal content was often disorganized. There was also a lack of clear content governance, which resulted in inconsistent documentation and an inefficient way of managing assets. The root issue was the absence of a unified design framework that could guide the entire organization’s design efforts.

I created and updated a project charter in Figma to establish the goals, objectives, deliverables, and other project details such as team members, documentation, scope, and timeline. This began as a starting point and remained as a resource for the project. The left image below provides a snapshot of the goals, tasks, and deliverables section of the charter.

Project Details

My Role: Project Lead, User Research, Visual Design, Content Strategy, Content Design

Team: 1 Service Designer, 2 Product Designers

Tools Used: Figma, Illustrator, Trello, Docs, Slack

I designed and used a project brief template in Docs for initial sprint planning. This ensured a strong start, making sure the main goals, objectives, deliverables, and initial timeline were stated and shared in the team. The right image below shows the template with an example overview text.

RESEARCH

Initial Planning

I created and updated a project charter in Figma to establish the goals, objectives, deliverables, and other project details such as team members, documentation, scope, and timeline. This began as a starting point and remained as a resource for the project. The image below provides a snapshot of the goals, tasks, and deliverables section of the charter.

Project Brief

I designed and used a project brief template in Docs for initial sprint planning. This ensured a strong start, making sure the main goals, objectives, deliverables, and initial timeline were stated and shared in the team. The image below shows the template with an example overview text.

Research Plan

I worked with a Fearless service designer to set research objectives that informed our research plan. The plan outlined that conducting a content inventory would be the most effective method for understanding Fearless' design framework(s). This inventory would reveal the strategies employed by various teams across the organization and help identify key themes.

Content Inventory

I explored and recorded human-centered design documentation through Fearless' internal channels and drives. Documents I discovered were systematically compiled into a content inventory. These various documents were then analyzed into a comparative analysis that provided key insight on their material.

Comparative Analysis

I prepared an analysis of the content inventory documents and their design processes, comparing aspects such as lifecycle phases, values, structure, and guidance. The following themes emerged as particularly notable:

Preliminary phase of discovery
Explaining and justifying the process (how and why)
Chronological vs. non-chronological structures

Competitive Analysis

Additionally, I carried out a competitive analysis that highlighted shared HCD values and processes among competitors, such as the need for the following:

Constant iteration
Thorough user research

Key Insights after Research

Variation in design frameworks applied across projects (ex. structure)

Misalignment in how internal departments understand the design process
Confusion among designers regarding the organization and use of internal materials (ex. template and folder usage)

Variation in design frameworks applied across projects (ex. structure)

Misalignment in how internal departments understand the design process
Confusion among designers regarding the organization and use of internal materials (ex. template and folder usage)
Shared values across Fearless projects:
- Use of iterative design
- Strong cross-functional teamwork
- Consistent incorporation of user research

Shared values across Fearless projects:
- Use of iterative design
- Strong cross-functional teamwork
- Consistent incorporation of user research

What Does Fearless Need?

A Unified Design Framework
A unified design framework would consolidate all design methods into one consistent approach. It would also outline key factors supporting the design lifecycle, such as established principles and role relationships. These elements combined will define Fearless' design identity.
- Design Principles
- Design Lifecycle
- Design Roles

A Content Governance Model
Research indicated some misalignments and varying approaches in internal organization and content generation. A content governance model would establish standards for content creation and provide guidance on naming conventions and template usage.
- Standardization of content creation
- Templates usage guidelines

VISUAL DESIGN

Design Lifecycle

Fearless often incorporates imagery to better communicate to clients their process and roles when navigating a project. I created visuals to be shared across Fearless internally and externally to better translate the design process.

disciplines. By mapping out how research informs the design phase and how design insights drive development, the lifecycle demonstrates a cohesive approach to transforming complex problems into effective solutions. This structured approach ensures that every stage of the design process is aligned and integrated, facilitating a clear path from initial concept through to final implementation.

The design lifecycle serves as a comprehensive and standardized guideline for navigating the entire design process from start to finish. It is systematically divided into three key sections—discovery, prototyping, and development—each representing a distinct phase with its own objectives and methodologies. This framework not only outlines the individual functions and tasks within each section but also illustrates the dynamic interplay and interdependencies between these disciplines. By mapping out how research informs the design phase and how design insights drive development, the lifecycle demonstrates a cohesive approach to transforming complex problems into effective solutions. This structured approach ensures that every stage of the design process is aligned and integrated, facilitating a clear path from initial concept through to final implementation.

not only outlines the individual functions and tasks within each section but also illustrates the dynamic interplay and interdependencies between these

Contract Phases

The contract phase template visualizes the process contracts go through, providing a clear roadmap from initiation to completion. Its structured format helps in managing each stage effectively, ensuring that all necessary elements are included. The template text is editable, allowing for adaptability to the specific needs of each contract and accommodating unique terms or conditions. The ability to customize the template enhances its relevance and effectiveness, making it a versatile tool for various contractual situations.

editable, allowing for adaptability to the specific needs of each contract and accommodating unique terms or conditions. The ability to customize the template enhances its relevance and effectiveness, making it a versatile tool for various contractual situations.

Design Roles Imagery

To differentiate roles within Fearless, I began constructing iconography. The following roles were explored:

Design Manager
Content Designer
Content Strategist
Service Designer
Product Designer
User Researcher

This iconography is to be incorporated into future branding efforts for each role.

CONTENT STRATEGY

Content Modeling

To better understand what content would be needed for the framework, I decided to formulate a content model. The model would represent the relationships between each topic and list out their individual attributes. This helped me brainstorm other content that needed to be considered. Some topics included: roles, lifecycles, workflows, terms, methods, guidelines, and metrics.

attributes. This helped me brainstorm other content that needed to be considered. Some topics included: roles, lifecycles, workflows, terms, methods, guidelines, and metrics.

Sitemap

In contrast to the content model, the sitemap illustrated the tangible arrangement of webpages where the design framework would be implemented. The webpages were organized on Fearless' internal site into two main sections : Concepts and Operations. The Concepts section would cover principles, lifecycles, and roles, while the Operations section would address people, processes, and tools, providing specific guidance on how these elements should be used to implement the design framework.

The Concepts section would cover principles, lifecycles, and roles, while the Operations section would address people, processes, and tools, providing specific guidance on how these elements should be used to implement the design framework.

CONTENT DESIGN

Design Principles

The research conducted pointed to five key principles that I defined as Fearless' approach:

Human-Centered
Iterative
Data-Driven
Inclusive
Cross-Functional

Core Concepts

To keep uniformity with terms, I wrote down key concepts and discipline descriptions that would be used across Fearless' circle. Examples include user experience, accessibility, product design, and content strategy.

Concept Outline

I began the concepts webpage content by outlining the topics and structure. Lifecycle, principles, and roles were broken down into subsections. This outline was then referenced to create the page copy as seen below with the lifecycle page.

Lifecycle Page Content

The lifecycle page content provides detailed guidance for each phase and stage, including specific descriptions and goals. This content is designed to foster a comprehensive and clear understanding, ensuring that all departments and clients have a unified perspective.

CONCLUSION

During my time at Fearless, I was able to bring consistency and definition to their design work. I conducted an in-depth analysis of their processes through a comprehensive content inventory, synthesized the data, proposed a unified design framework and content governance model, designed the content, and developed strategies for its organization and future development.

As Fearless continues to exponentially grow, it is essential they share an understanding and approach to their work. Doing so supports their branding, giving clients recognition of their efforts and increasing their contracts. I look forward to seeing how Fearless' unified design framework transforms their production and strengthens their image.

Rachel Wesley

Design Framework