Navigating design workflow with ease
Introduction
Over the past year, I had the opportunity to contribute to an exciting initiative at Techcombank: the creation of the Experience Playbook.
As our Digital Office rapidly scaled, we saw an urgent need for a shared resource that could bring clarity, consistency, and collaboration to our growing design practices. Designing at scale is thrilling, but without a shared compass, it's easy for teams to feel disconnected or overwhelmed. The Experience Playbook was our answer to that challenge.
Role: Program lead
Status: Published
Status: Published
Why we built the playbook
With Techcombank's Digital Office expanding across product design, UX research, product management, and more, we noticed familiar pain points:
- Different teams working in silos.
- Varied interpretations of our design principles.
- New team members struggling to navigate complex workflows.
Rather than creating more scattered documents, we wanted a single, living guide—something practical and accessible for anyone involved in shaping digital experiences.
A story of inspiration: The New York City subway map
In the 1950s, the subway system had become so tangled and complex that only seasoned experts could navigate it. It wasn’t until a simplified, visual map was introduced that the system became truly usable for everyone, offering clarity and confidence to millions of commuters.
Inspired by the iconic New York City subway map, the Experience Playbook is designed to guide you through the intricate landscape of our design processes. Just as the subway map simplified a complex network of routes, our playbook provides clear, structured guidance to help you navigate through your daily tasks and collaborative efforts with ease.
It’s all about turning complexity into clarity, so teams can move forward without hesitation.
What's inside
The Experience Playbook is structured to be intuitive and immediately useful, offering:
A. A clear design framework: Understand how principles, processes, and workflows connect.
B. Streamlined processes: Follow structured steps to reduce bottlenecks and drive efficient collaboration.
C. Access to resources: Quickly find templates, tools, and standards to maintain consistency across projects.
D. Smooth onboarding: Equip new members with a clear path to integrate and contribute confidently.
A collective effort
The Experience Playbook isn’t a finished product. It's a living document—continuously evolving with feedback, real use cases, and lessons from the teams who rely on it every day.
I’m proud to have collaborated with an incredible group of designers, researchers, and product owners to shape a tool that's built for our reality, not just our ideals.
Reflections
Working on the Experience Playbook reinforced something I deeply believe: Good design isn't just about beautiful outputs—it’s about building alignment, clarity, and momentum across teams.
In fast-paced, high-growth environments, these invisible structures matter just as much as the screens we design.
Thank you for reading.