Sarat Chandra Addepalli

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Design system | B2B, SaaS, CPaaS, Enterprise

7 min read

Co-created a unified design system across CPaaS products by aligning interaction patterns, visuals, and UX across six cross-functional teams enabling faster delivery, reusable UI, and consistent platform experience

My role

👨🏻‍💻 1 of the 6 product designers responsible for webex connect and key components design

👥 I led the design system integration for Webex Connect, while collaborating with peers on cross-product components.

Solution

We delivered a modular, extensible component library backed by usage documentation and real-world product integration.

Impact/Results

🚀 Reduced design + development effort by up to 30% for new features

🧠 Increased interface consistency and predictability for end users

🛠 Improved brand trust with enterprise clients through a cohesive UI

Problem

CPaaS being an acquired business unit of Cisco - the Momentum design system did not have a design library for the unique needs of the suite of CPaaS products among all of it’s digital products (Webex, Control hub, Duo, etc ). Without a shared design system:

Designers recreated components from scratch for every product and feature
Legacy behaviours clashed with new components, creating technical and UX debt
Inconsistent navigation, forms, and interaction feedback led to poor usability
Design and development slowed down due to lack of reusability

Business challenge

As Webex Connect scaled across channels and features, inconsistencies in UI and UX began to surface across its CPaaS product suite. Each product team designed and shipped independently, resulting in a fractured visual language and inconsistent interaction patterns.

From a business standpoint, this led to:

Increased design and dev time across features and teams
A steeper learning curve for users navigating across tools
Incoherent brand perception during enterprise sales
Higher maintenance costs due to lack of reusability

...

How did I contribute ?

Specifically, I:

Audited all components used across Webex Connect
Compiled a requirement matrix identifying shared and unique needs
Participated in weekly critique and validation reviews with the design systems team
Designed and delivered production-ready components that fit the unified library
Aligned usage with Cisco’s Momentum Design System while customising where needed

Components | Designed & Contributed

Collection view (Tables)

Here are some of the usage examples for you to check out:

Navigation bar - (Left navigation)

Co-led with Design Systems Team - Caitriona Murphy Visual design lead for webex

App Header (Input Contributor)

Final design consolidated and delivered by design systems lead, post consensus

Modals, Tabs, Checkboxes, Radio buttons (Designed and delivered)

Direct imports from Momentum, no major changes required
Reviewed some components and adjusted structure for our specific use cases

...

Impact

🎨 Unified Design Language

Brought visual and interaction consistency across the entire Webex Connect suite, aligning all CPaaS products.

⚙️ Faster Feature Delivery

Cut design and development time by 30% through reusable, well-documented components.

📚 Scalable Onboarding

Made it easier to onboard new designers and engineers with a shared component library and clear usage guidelines.

💼 Brand Cohesion

Improved client perception and brand trust by delivering a seamless, polished enterprise experience.

📈 Platform Scalability

Enabled future platform growth and feature expansion by setting up a flexible and modular design system.

...

My philosophy

I believe design systems are not just about components, visuals, accessibility but they’re also about clarity, scale, and enabling others.

In a multi-product ecosystem like Webex Connect, finding common ground without compromising individual product needs is what makes a system truly usable. I focused on collaboration, reuse, and contextual flexibility, not enforcing sameness, but fostering alignment.

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