Design system modernization

Advisor Portals | Sun Life Financial

Role: Senior UX Lead & Advisor Experience Expert

Scope: System Audit | Component Innovation | Enterprise Governance

As the sole UX Lead representing the advisor experience, I proactively audited Sun Life’s new global design system to ensure it met the high-density, professional needs of our advisor network. I identified 16 critical functional gaps and collaborated directly with the Global Design System team to design and implement specialized components, protecting high-stakes workflows from being diluted by a generic, member-facing interface.

Bridging the gap between Member-centric patterns and Advisor-level complexity

When Sun Life introduced a new global design system, it was built primarily for member-facing, B2C experiences. While high-performing for retail users, the system was not architected for the high-density, data-heavy, and transactional nature of professional advisor tools. As the Senior UX Lead for the advisor experience, I recognized that a direct "lift and shift" of this system would compromise the efficiency and precision that independent advisors require.

This modernization effort presented three systemic challenges:

The Density Paradox: Member-facing systems often prioritize white space and simplicity for occasional users. Advisors, however, are power users who require high information density to manage complex client portfolios. Applying the system "as-is" risked slowing down expert users with oversized components and unnecessary scrolling.
Functional Gaps in Professional Workflows: My initial audit revealed that the new system lacked critical components necessary for specialized advisor tasks, such as complex data tables, multi-step financial forms, and role-based navigation.
Governance and Alignment: With multiple teams moving toward the new system, there was a high risk of "rogue" UI workarounds. The challenge was to advocate for advisor-specific needs at the enterprise level, ensuring that the global system evolved to support all Sun Life audiences, not just one.

The Goal: My objective was to lead a proactive, cross-platform audit to identify and bridge the gaps between the new design system and the actual needs of the advisor network. By collaborating with the Global Design System team, I aimed to influence the core library, design missing components, and establish a scalable framework that maintained brand consistency without sacrificing professional-grade utility.

Auditing the design system and creating solutions to meet advisor needs

While reviewing the existing design system, I identified misalignments that would negatively impact advisor-facing portals. I conducted a comprehensive audit across three main Sun Life advisor portals, highlighted gaps, and proposed actionable solutions. All recommendations were formalized into the design system guidelines, and I also designed new components to fill gaps and deliver an ideal advisor experience. This ensured the system supported real workflows, improved usability, and maintained cross-platform consistency.

Key Outcomes

Proactively identified risks in the existing design system
- Conducted an audit across three advisor portals, uncovering inconsistencies that could harm usability and efficiency.
Validated impact across multiple platforms
- Demonstrated how gaps could disrupt advisor workflows and proposed data-backed solutions.
Implemented actionable solutions
- Recommendations were formalized in the design system guidelines, ensuring long-term adoption and scalability.
Designed new components for an ideal advisor experience
- Created reusable UI patterns that addressed identified gaps and aligned with actual advisor workflows.
Strengthened cross-platform alignment
- Improved consistency and usability across all advisor-facing systems, creating a foundation for scalable, enterprise-wide experiences.

Design Impact

This work shows how strategic design thinking, cross-team influence, and hands-on execution combine to protect and enhance enterprise systems:

Prevented negative impacts on high-stakes advisor workflows
Ensured the design system meets real user needs
Introduced new components and patterns for immediate and scalable improvement
Formalized recommendations for ongoing system alignment and growth

Learnings & Reflection

Auditing and improving a central design system reinforced the importance of proactive advocacy, collaboration, and hands-on problem-solving:

Enterprise systems require constant evaluation against real user needs
Cross-team collaboration is essential to implement scalable solutions
Formalizing guidelines ensures long-term consistency and adoption
Creating components is critical when gaps cannot be solved with existing pattern

Due to confidentiality, visuals of the design system cannot be shown.

This project was initiated independently during the preparation for rolling out a new design system across Sun Life Financial’s advisor portals. While the system was originally designed for member-facing experiences, it was intended to be extended to advisor portals, where I identified early misalignment with advisor needs.

Design system audit (pre-rollout initiative)

Took initiative to evaluate the new design system before its rollout to advisor portals.

Identified that several new components were not well suited for advisor-facing use cases, prompting a proactive audit before transition began.

Conducted a detailed review of system components and patterns in the context of advisor portal requirements.

Identified 16 total gaps, including 6 critical issues, where the system did not align with advisor needs or workflows.

This highlighted key risks in applying a member-focused system to advisor-facing experiences without adaptation.

Defining priorities & system gaps

Organized findings based on severity and impact on upcoming advisor portal transitions.

Prioritized critical gaps that would most significantly affect usability and consistency if the system were adopted without adjustment.

This helped define what needed to be addressed before rollout to ensure suitability for advisor-facing experiences.

Refining system direction for advisor needs

Worked on clarifying how the design system should be adapted specifically for advisor-facing portals.

Focused on improving consistency in component behavior and structure to ensure suitability for advisor workflows.

Key decisions centered on adjusting the system to better support advisor use cases before rollout.

Component updates & refinement

Contributed to updating and refining components to address gaps identified before rollout.

Focused on improving flexibility and usability of system components to ensure they worked for advisor-facing use cases.

Ensured updates supported consistent application across advisor portals.

Collaboration with design system team

Worked closely with the design system team to align on standards, component behavior, and planned rollout direction.

Ensured proposed adjustments were considered before adoption across advisor portals.

Maintained alignment to support consistent and appropriate system usage across advisor experiences.

Application planning across advisor portals

Reviewed how updated system components would be applied across advisor portals prior to rollout.

Refined patterns based on expected usage and known constraints from advisor workflows.

Focused on ensuring readiness for consistent adoption across advisor-facing experiences.

Stakeholder alignment

Presented audit findings, critical gaps, and recommendations before system rollout to advisor portals.

Aligned with stakeholders on necessary adjustments to ensure the system was suitable for advisor use cases.

This presentation resulted in full support from the business team to move forward with joint conversations, with me involved to advocate for advisor user needs throughout the rollout discussions.

Supported shared understanding of risks if the system was applied without adaptation.

Collaboration & rollout support

Supported teams in preparing for adoption of the design system across advisor portals.

Worked closely with cross-functional teams to ensure readiness for consistent and appropriate implementation.

Maintained alignment throughout preparation phase to improve system suitability before rollout.

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Bridging the gap between Member-centric patterns and Advisor-level complexity

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