PRODUCT SOLUTIONS
REFINING OUR DESIGN PARTNERSHIP
How Allovus and a major enterprise thechnology organization built a dream team
PROJECT OVERVIEW
At Allovus, we believe design is about more than how things look – it’s about making life easier for the people using them. When a major enterprise technology team hit a turning point, they needed more than design help. They needed collaborators. Together, we challenged assumptions, explored new ideas, and built something better.
For years, this team preferred a traditional staffing model – interviewing and hiring individual designers rather than working with studio teams. But when leadership decided to invest in delivering significant new customer value through innovative capabilities, it opened the door for Allovus to form a true Studio partnership.
Instead of a few individual contributors, the team embraced the full Allovus Studio model – a complete package that included:
- Project management to streamline workflows and keep everything on track.
- Holistic design thinking to ensure cohesion and innovation.
- A dedicated team of five designers, split into two work streams to tackle our client’s biggest UX challenges.
Duration
April 2024 – Present
Tools
Figma
SharePoint
Teams
Roles
Project Management
Product Design
Design Systems
UI Design
UX Design
This shift wasn’t just about scaling up. It was about rethinking how design happens – bringing fresh perspectives, breaking down silos, and creating an environment where collaboration thrived.
This allowed the existing internal design team to continue their focus while our Studio team could reimagine the platform’s framework and bring new and innovative ideas to the table.
REIMAGINING
MORE THAN SURFACE-LEVEL UPDATES
This widely-used platform plays a vital role in how millions of people share and manage content across organizations. But improving the experience required more than surface-level updates. The product team was ready to rethink interactions, visuals, and the overall design experience from the ground up. With a clean slate and a team of curious minds, we got to work.
Homepage experience
We started with the homepage – the first thing users see when selecting themes, layouts, and content. Our designers focused on visual hierarchy and simplifying key interactions to help users navigate more intuitively and make confident design choices.
Color exploration + theming
One of the most exciting challenges? Reinventing how users apply brand colors across sites.
We began with a color-use audit of 15 enterprise websites, categorizing their branding systems as complex, moderate, or limited – giving us a data-informed foundation.
From there, we explored how Brand Managers could create and proof color palettes directly in layout, simplifying theme creation, saving, and sharing across teams.
From gradient customization to dark mode, our goal was to give users more control – while keeping that control approachable. We even developed a color proofing tool that shows how selections flow across a page, helping prevent imbalance or oversaturation.
All explorations were prototyped in Figma, tested with users, and refined in close collaboration with the internal product team for implementation.
Design system + engineering support
In parallel, we expanded the existing design system, built reusable components, and partnered with engineers to develop responsive, production-ready assets.
The result?
New ideas, fresh solutions, and a true collaboration that pushed the platform in a more modern, customizable, and user-centered direction.
So…is THIS the design? No, not really. The updated look, feel, and functionality are still being implemented by the client. We take our NDA responsibilities seriously, so for now we’re just featuring a few representational images.
THE PIVOT: MOVING TO A STUDIO LIGHT MODEL
When the new fiscal year rolled around, our client made a strategic shift – keeping momentum going while reducing overhead. The full studio model had been a success, but it was time for a more flexible approach.
This was the perfect time to shift to Allovus Studio Lite – a scaled-down version of our studio model that gives clients creative control while still tapping into our expertise.
IN THIS NEW MODEL, WE:
- Maintained a team of four to five designers to continue high-impact work.
- Reduced project management to just two hours a week for efficiency.
- Smoothly shifted to a support role while in-house designers drove high-stakes outcomes.
This transition proved that great design isn’t about rigid structures – it’s about adaptability. By meeting clients where they are, we helped them keep moving forward on their terms.
The takeaway: More than just a project – A partnership
What started as a one-off studio engagement grew into something bigger: a proof of concept for how design should work.
- The innovative new platform experience is more user-friendly, intuitive, and scalable.
- Leadership saw firsthand the value of a flexible, strategic design partnership.
- Studio Lite showed that innovation doesn’t need a massive price tag – just the right team.
Most importantly, the project showed how trust and collaboration can unlock unexpected value. Because great work doesn’t happen alone – it happens together.
