Honda faced significant challenges with inconsistent digital experiences across its diverse product lines. With separate teams managing Cars, Bikes, Marine, and Power Tools divisions, the customer experience varied widely between platforms, creating brand fragmentation and increased development costs.
The system needed to be flexible enough to accommodate regional variations, maintaining global brand consistency, while respecting the unique requirements of each product category.
A dynamic CTA system was introduced through tokenisation that defined Primary, Secondary and Tertiary variants and interactives states, for clear navigation across components and pages.
A comprehensive library of wayfinding icons was catalogued, organised and delivered using design tokens.
Brand themes were created for each division to create seamless switching of reusable core components.
(Drag left to right below to see the Bikes -> Cars transition in the brand theming)
Below shows how we used tokenisation to create master reusable components across divisions, by employing modes to load specific content and parameters.
I then worked with the content and development teams to create detailed guidelines on the anatomy of components and how they should be used across applications.
Once the design system had been delivered and onboarded we began the process of defining a governance model for all teams to manage, maintain and evolve the design system going forward.
We also then delivered a training program for global suppliers.
* Calculations are based on 1 month of stress testing production through time-recorded tasks
This was the start of a longer journey for Honda, to consolidate their design processes, systems and delivery across the wider organisation. The project served as a catalyst and something of a reboot by focussing all key stakeholders into changing the mindset about how design should drive innovation and growth.
Key achievements
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Unified brand experience across all Honda divisions
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Streamlined design-to-development workflow
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Improved accessibility and performance metrics
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Reduced maintenance overhead and technical debt
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Scalable foundation for future digital growth
Next projects.
(2016-25©)
