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Design & UX · CANVAS
Design & UX.
Research-led product design and governed design systems for enterprise software — embedded into engineering squads rather than handed off after a Figma review. Accessibility-first interfaces and brand systems that compound across the product portfolio.
- Sub-services
- 2
- Department
- CANVAS
The problem
Most enterprise software looks like it was designed by a procurement spreadsheet — because it was.
The pattern that produces it is mechanical: design treated as a procurement deliverable rather than a discipline; a Figma review separated from the engineering cadence; design systems that exist as a slide deck but not as code; accessibility deferred to a final audit; brand systems that fork between product, marketing, and customer support. The result is software that works, eventually, but doesn't compound — every feature relitigates the same patterns.
CANVAS — our design and UX practice — operates inside the engineering squad rather than alongside it. Designers are senior practitioners (10+ years average) who own research, interaction, visual, and design-systems work end-to-end, ship in two-week increments through the same code review and CI pipeline as engineers, and are accountable for the same release-gate outcomes. We don't run isolated 'design phases' that hand off to engineering — we run integrated practices where design and engineering ship together.
What we deliver
2 capabilities, one bench.
Research, design systems, enterprise product design.
How we engage
4 phases, in writing.
The methodology shows up in the statement of work — not as slogans, but as deliverables, owners, and acceptance criteria.
- 01
Research-led, not opinion-led
Discovery starts with the question 'who's using this, and what are they actually trying to do'. Stakeholder interviews, ethnographic observation when warranted, jobs-to-be-done framing, and journey mapping with the engineering and product teams in the room. Output is a research synthesis your roadmap can act on.
- 02
Embedded design systems
Design systems live as code, governed as a product. Component libraries (React, Web Components) with documented accessibility patterns, theme tokens managed in version control, contribution model with named stewards. We build design systems that survive the next product launch — not Figma libraries that drift.
- 03
Accessibility from the design phase
WCAG 2.2 AA conformance designed in, not audited at the end. Every component reviewed for keyboard navigation, screen-reader semantics, color contrast, and reduced-motion behavior at the design phase. GUARDIAN co-pilots accessibility test runs on every release gate.
- 04
Brand and product as one system
Brand identity, marketing surfaces, and product UI share token libraries, voice / tone guidance, and motion principles. We don't run brand and product design as separate practices — they ship from the same vocabulary, with explicit governance for the places they diverge.
Capabilities
What’s in scope.
- Product design: research, interaction design, visual design, prototyping
- Design systems: component libraries, design tokens, governance, contribution model
- Accessibility design: WCAG 2.2 AA-first interaction patterns and content design
- Brand systems: identity, voice, motion, illustration, design-token integration
- Enterprise UX: complex workflow design, dashboard architecture, data visualization
- Design ops: design-engineering interface, Figma governance, asset pipelines
- Research operations: stakeholder interviews, usability studies, longitudinal research
- Front-end engineering for design-system implementation (React, Web Components)
Stack
Tools we use in production.
- Design tools
- FigmaFigJamOrigami StudioAfter EffectsLottie
- Design systems
- Style DictionaryStorybookChromaticTokens Studio
- Frontend
- ReactWeb ComponentsTailwindRadix UIshadcn/ui
- Research
- DovetailMazeUserTestingLookbackNotion
- Accessibility
- axe-coreStarkPolypaneNVDA / VoiceOverWAVE
- Motion & prototyping
- FramerRiveOrigamiPrincipleWebflow
Selected work
Quantified outcomes, not adjectives.
- 01B2B SaaS
12x
feature throughput on shared componentsEnterprise design system rebuild for a Series D vertical SaaS.
Rebuilt the customer's design system as a governed code artifact with token-driven theming, automated accessibility testing, and a contribution model. Six product surfaces converged onto the system within nine months; new feature velocity tripled.
9 months
- 02Healthcare
+47%
task-completion rateClinician-workflow redesign for a 14-hospital EHR-tethered platform.
Research-led redesign of the clinician-facing workflows in an EHR-tethered platform. Reduced clicks-per-task, redesigned the alert and order-entry patterns, and shipped a WCAG 2.2 AA-conformant interaction model across the portfolio.
7 months
- 03Financial Services
1 system
from 4 forked design librariesBrand and product design system unification for a regional bank.
Consolidated four divergent design libraries (consumer, business, internal admin, marketing) into one governed system. Identity refresh, motion language, accessibility-first components, and an editorial voice guide that survived three product launches.
11 months
Common questions
Asked before the first call.
- 01
Do you do brand work or only product UI?
Both, integrated. We treat brand identity, marketing surfaces, and product UI as one system with shared tokens, voice, and motion principles. Where they need to diverge (say, product UI suppressing brand expressiveness for clarity), the divergence is governed and explicit. We don't run brand and product as separate silos — that's how design systems fork.
- 02
Do designers report into engineering or product?
Embedded into the squad — designers attend the same standups, ship through the same review process, and are accountable to the same release gates. Reporting line during engagement is into your design or product leadership; the operating discipline is engineering-paced. We don't run isolated 'design sprints' that hand off after a Figma review.
- 03
Can you build the design system in code, or only in Figma?
Both, in lockstep. Figma libraries are the source of truth for design tokens; code components implement those tokens through Style Dictionary or equivalent. We write the React / Web Components code, the Storybook documentation, the accessibility test suite, and the contribution governance — design systems live as products in code, not as Figma artifacts that drift.
- 04
How do you handle accessibility?
WCAG 2.2 AA conformance designed in from the first prototype, not audited at the end. Every interaction pattern reviewed for keyboard, screen-reader, contrast, and motion-sensitivity behavior. GUARDIAN runs accessibility test gates on every release. We publish accessibility statements with known limitations rather than claiming conformance we can't defend.
- 05
Can you do enterprise UX — complex dashboards, workflow tools?
Yes — that's actually most of our portfolio. Consumer-facing UX and enterprise UX have different design vocabularies (information density, modality patterns, error and recovery design, role-aware surfaces), and we have senior designers who specialize in the enterprise variant. Our healthcare, financial-services, and B2B SaaS engagements all sit in this category.
- 06
What does a Design & UX engagement cost?
Discovery and research: 3–6 weeks, $40K–$120K. Design system build (Figma + code + governance): 4–9 months, $300K–$1M. Embedded design squad alongside an engineering team: $30K–$80K per month per designer. Brand identity refresh and unification programs: $200K–$700K. Brackets published honestly so visitors self-qualify before the first call.
Related practices
Often paired with Design & UX.
Talk to us
Bring a design & ux problem. We’ll bring a senior engineer.
A senior engineer plus the CANVAS department lead joins the first call. No discovery gauntlet, no junior reps, no obligation.