Vanco Payments

Vanco Payments – Unified UI & Launched Donation App in 20 Months

Project: Design system creation and donation app launch
Outcome: Unified UI across 40+ products, reduced time-to-design for new features, on-time donation app release
Client: Vanco (payment solutions for churches, schools & nonprofits)
Role: Senior Product Designer
Team: Product managers, engineers, stakeholders
Timeline: 1 year, 7 months

TL;DR

I built a centralized, token-based design system that aligned branding and UX across 40+ siloed products—streamlining development, improving consistency, and successfully launching a flagship donation app.

Outcome / Problem Statement

Vanco’s product suite had grown without central coordination, leading to inconsistent UI, duplicated efforts, and a fragmented user experience. This created inefficiencies internally and frustration for end-users.
Goal: Consolidate multiple UI libraries into one scalable design system, unify brand identity, streamline development, and support the donation app launch.

Users and Needs

Administrators from churches, schools, and nonprofits needed cohesive, user-friendly interfaces across donor-facing and internal tools. UX inconsistency added complexity and reduced confidence.

My Role & Team

As the individual Senior Product Designer, I led UX strategy, created the design system framework, and partnered with PMs, engineers, and stakeholders to ensure company-wide adoption.

Constraints & Process

Constraints:

• Legacy products with siloed UI libraries

• Need to support ongoing product development and a major app launch

• Stakeholder alignment required across teams

Process:

1. Conducted UX audits and stakeholder workshops

2. Performed heuristic reviews and competitor benchmarking

3. Synthesized insights to define modular, scalable design patterns

4. Audited five UI libraries and refactored components into one token-based system

5. Launched documentation and governance model to drive system adoption

6. Supported UX strategy and implementation for the new donation app
   
   

Results & Impact

• Design System Adoption: Deployed across 40+ products

• Faster Feature Launch: Reduced time to design new features via reusable components

• Stronger Brand Identity: Visual and interaction consistency across platforms

• Donation App Success: Delivered on time with improved UX flows aligned to unified system
  
  

Key Takeaways

• Centralized design systems drive strategic UX and scale

• Modular components and governance models enable long-term consistency

• Aligning UX with brand identity builds user trust and accelerates development

What's Next

• Expand the governance model to on-site integrations (e.g., APIs)

• Build a UX maturity dashboard to measure system consistency

• Roll out modular design patterns to new product verticals