BT Business Design System - One design language for 20M customers
A design system is only as good as the organisation that adopts it. Building the component library is the easy part, the hard part is getting a large, fast-moving team to trust it, contribute to it, and actually use it every day. Arc was BT's shared design language for 20 million customers across 15+ digital products. I led it from concept to rollout, including the contribution model, the training programme, and the network of Arc Angels who kept it alive and evolving across the organisation.
Impact
15+
Digital products unified under one system
35%
Reduction in design debt
33%
Faster feature delivery
50%
Reduction in duplicated design work
The Challenge
BT was moving fast. Multiple product teams, a rapid release cadence, and a design organisation that needed to scale without losing quality or consistency. Without a shared foundation, the same problems were being solved in different ways across different teams, and the customer experience was starting to show the cracks. The opportunity was clear: build something that unified how we design and how we ship, and make it something teams actually wanted to use.
My Role
Leading Arc was one of the most rewarding organisational challenges I've taken on. I set the strategy, built genuine excitement around what a shared design language could do for the business, and created the conditions for the team to do their best work. Design reviews and critiques kept the quality bar high throughout. I pushed hard, but always in the direction of something worth being proud of.
The Solution
Arc gave BT a shared design language for the first time — reusable components, clear guidelines, and a contribution model that grew with the organisation. Engineers got components they could integrate directly. Designers got a foundation they could build on. Customers got a consistent experience across every touchpoint.
