Case Study 03

GS Design System

A scalable component library built for a payroll platform used by thousands of HR administrators — creating a single source of truth for design and development.

ClientGreenshades
IndustryPayroll Software
Duration6 months
RoleProduct Designer

The Challenge

Problem

The product had grown organically over time, resulting in inconsistent UI patterns across modules — buttons, forms, and tables looked and behaved differently depending on where you were in the app. Every new feature required design decisions that had already been made elsewhere.

Solution

We built a comprehensive design system in Figma — tokens, components, patterns, and documentation — that gave the entire product team a shared visual language, sped up design work, and made developer handoff significantly smoother.

Strategy

The system was built over 6 months by a 2-person team, covering every layer of the product's UI from foundational tokens to complex interactive patterns.

70+
Components built and documented in Figma
6
Months from audit to full system delivery
2
Designers who built and maintained the system
4+
Product areas using the system consistently

Visual Identity

The design system established a clear visual language built on a green-forward palette — Greenshades' brand color — paired with dark neutrals for data-heavy UI contexts.

Brand colors
Core brand palette for primary UI elements and backgrounds.
Primary Dark#214622
Primary Green#85c441
Action Green#0a8944
Product colors
Use this color specifically for GS product. Blue for interactions and purple as complement for components like data grids and notifications.
Product interaction blue#093C95
Product purple#3A0CA3
Neutral colors
Works for strokes, lines, borders and fonts.
Black#000000
Product gray 1#353536
Product gray 2#747575
Product gray 3#E9EBED
Product gray 4#F9F9F9
Product background#F3F4F5
Utility colors
Use this colors for inline messages and modals.
Secondary utility yellow#f5d50c
Utility red#B10625
Secondary utility orange#ed7c2e
Utility green#116700
Title / Header 1
Family: PTSerif
Weight: Bold
Size: 32px
Line-height: 42px
Color: #353536
H1 The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Header 2
Family: Source sans Pro
Weight: Bold
Size: 24px
Line-height: 31px
Color: #353536
H2 The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Header 3
Family: Source sans Pro
Weight: SemiBold
Size: 20px
Line-height: 26px
Color: #000000
H3 The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Header 4
Family: Source sans Pro
Weight: Regular
Size: 18px
Line-height: 26px
Color: #000000
H4 The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Body
Family: Source sans Pro
Weight: Regular
Size: 16px
Line-height: 21px
Color: #000000
Body The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Small
Weight: SemiBold · Size: 14px · Line-height: 18px
Small The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
XSmall
Weight: Regular · Size: 12px · Line-height: 16px
XSmall The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Intuitive components

Every component was designed to feel familiar to HR administrators — reducing cognitive load and minimizing training time. From date pickers to inline notifications, each element follows consistent interaction patterns built with real payroll workflows in mind.

GS Design System components — monthly pay run, notifications, calendar, tooltip, buttons, chips, switcher and segmented controls
Design faster with prebuilt components and styles.

Predefined tokens for color, typography, and spacing — plus 70+ component variants ready to use across any payroll or HR screen.

Built with Figma's latest features and best practices.

Leverages auto layout, variables, and component properties — making customization quick and keeping handoff clean for developers.

Designed to be intuitive, accessible, and consistent.

Every component was crafted with usability in mind — clear hierarchy, predictable interactions, and contrast ratios that meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards.

Scalable

Thanks to a meticulously established auto-layout system, all components within the design system are now seamlessly scalable across various viewports. From mobile (375px) to tablet (768px), desktop (1024px), and even ultra-wide screens (1440+px), designers can effortlessly utilize the components to create UIs of any desired screen size.

Mobile375px
Tablet768px
Desktop1024px
Ultra-wide1440px+
Responsive layout comparison — desktop and mobile viewports

Accessible

Ensuring accessibility is a paramount consideration during the development of the GS Design System. All components are designed following WCAG 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), guaranteeing they meet the necessary accessibility requirements prior to release. By doing so, we promote inclusivity and cater to the needs of diverse user groups.

Color contrast and readability accessibility checks
Color contrast
All text and UI elements meet minimum contrast ratios for WCAG AA compliance.
Screen reader compatibility
Semantic HTML and ARIA labels ensure full compatibility with assistive technologies.
Keyboard accessibility
Every interactive component is fully navigable and operable via keyboard alone.
Readability
Typography scale and line-height choices are optimized for legibility across all screen sizes.

Impact

Faster design-to-dev handoff

Components came with documented specs, variants, and behavior notes — developers could build from Figma directly without back-and-forth clarification rounds.

Consistent UI across all modules

The same button, the same table, the same form input — used everywhere. No more one-off styles or contradictory patterns across different parts of the product.

Single source of truth

Designers, developers, and PMs could all reference the same library — reducing ambiguity in reviews and making onboarding new team members significantly smoother.

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