Moved our design history safely
I scripted the move of about 1,200 comments from 31 files and fixed about 690 links across 445 tickets. Dry run, small pilot, then the full run. Then I taught another VA team to do it.
Case study 04
Cleaning up our design tools and process
Alongside feature work, I took on the upkeep that keeps a design team moving: our design history, our design tokens, and AI tools for the team.
- Situation
- Alongside feature work
- My role
- Planned and ran it all
- Partners
- VA design system team
- Outcome
- 8 code changes merged
The problem
Our design files were moving to a government-approved Figma, and years of comments and ticket links could have been lost. Our code had also drifted from the design system, and every new feature made that worse.
What I did
Got four apps back on the system
I replaced about 50 hard-coded values with tokens and swapped look-alike links for real components. Along the way I found real bugs, like two colors quietly broken in production.
Built AI tools for the team
My tools capture before-and-after screenshots, fill out our ticket and pull request templates, and annotate prototypes for handoff. Reviews start with work that’s already checked.
The result
~1,200 comments saved
Our review history and ticket links made it through the move.
4 apps back on the system
Shared tokens and components, with about 345 lines of dead CSS gone.
A script others can use
The VA design system team now has it for other teams.
What I learned
Setting up how design works is a different job than designing screens. I like doing both.