Telstra
Redesigning Australia’s biggest brand and develop a digital design system
As an experience designer at R/GA, I had the opportunity to work with Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company, for an 8-month embedded engagement. During this period, our team delivered a world-class design system that unified Telstra’s digital brand presence, ensuring consistency and accessibility across their digital products.
My Role:
Overview
Defined accessibility and inclusion guidelines to ensure Telstra met its commitment to AA WCAG compliance.
Developed wireframes for key customer lifecycle moments, followed by qualitative user testing to refine the user experience.
Supported the visual design team to create the best possible customer experiences.
Led the documentation of interaction and design rules.
Brought visual designs to life with motion and high-fidelity prototypes.
Collaborated with Telstra’s internal design team, securing their buy-in and empowering them to champion the design system post-engagement.
Telstra’s digital ecosystem was fragmented, with over nine different digital products and apps, each designed by separate teams. This lack of a unified design approach led to a disjointed user experience and a fragmented online brand presence.
Challenge
Additionally, one of Telstra’s core branding elements, the gradient, was not accessible, conflicting with their commitment to AA WCAG compliance. A scalable, intuitive digital design system was crucial to address these challenges and support Telstra’s growth.
We aimed to deliver a consistent, accessible, and future-proof design system by establishing clear rules and guidelines for Telstra’s visual language. Instead of merely auditing existing components, we pushed the visual language to ensure longevity.
Sprints Overview:
Sprint 1:
Experience Design (XD): Created ideal customer experience flows for 5 key moments in the customer lifecycle.
Visual Design (VD): Researched and explored two conceptual visual territories.
Sprint 2:
XD: Established inclusive guidelines to achieve AA WCAG compliance.
VD: Applied visual aesthetics to the 5 key moments.
Sprint 3:
XD: Prototyped and stress-tested visual design directions.
VD: Focused on detailed design and motion exploration.
Sprint 4:
XD + VD: Documented design direction, interactions, foundations, and components.
Sprint 5+:
XD + VD: Engaged in ongoing testing, feedback, and collaboration as the design system was socialized and championed by Telstra’s internal team.
Process
Our team was embedded within Telstra’s Sydney office to better understand their needs and work more efficiently. The team initially consisted of a mix of senior and mid-level visual designers and experience designers, reporting to R/GA’s executive creative director of experience design. As the project progressed, the team evolved to include Telstra’s senior visual designers, ensuring wider adoption of the design system.
Team Collaboration
Beta Feedback:
A beta release of the Telstra Design System (TDS) generated valuable feedback from Telstra designers, which R/GA and Telstra are actively addressing in the ongoing refinement of the system.
Distribution:
To maintain the integrity of the TDS, a secure version-controlled distribution channel is essential. While currently using OneDrive, future plans include adopting tools like Abstract or InVision DSM.
Adoption:
Successful adoption of the design system requires educating and promoting it across all levels of the business, from project managers to developers, ensuring everyone benefits from the system’s capabilities.
What was next?