Case study 01 · Comfone AG · Aug 2024 – Oct 20261 min read
I designed the Pulse design system and built the e-learning platform that teaches it to PMs and developers.
Final design owner = I also owned the explaining.
Design lead for 80+ business apps. One designer, no rebuild.
Pulse is Comfone’s platform for 600+ mobile operators. I reported to the COO and the board. Every app solved layout, charts and navigation its own way, and the people applying the rules were PMs and developers, not designers.
Every "no" here was a real option someone asked for.
Chose C: An audience toggle: Developers, PMs, or both
Because developers need the code first, PMs the trade-off first.
Why not A: PMs and developers rarely open Figma to learn a rule.
Why not B: one voice for two audiences meant every page was half irrelevant to its reader.
Trade-off: every page written twice.
Chose C: A self-paced e-learning platform
Because it works without me in the room and shows who has learned what.
Why not A: a wiki gets read once, if at all, and nobody knows who read it.
Why not B: workshops depend on my calendar and are gone after the hour.
Trade-off: I had to build and maintain a product, not a page.
Chose C: Foundations: tokens, grids, charts, navigation
Because 80+ live apps can adopt foundations one at a time.
Why not A: components force a rewrite before any value shows up.
Why not B: templates freeze today's apps instead of fixing them.
Trade-off: less visible polish early on.
Foundations first. Tokens can be adopted one app at a time; a component library can't.
Switch audience, press ⌘K or Ctrl K
Pillar 1 of 4
For developers · how to apply
Use semantic tokens, never raw values. A token describes its job, so it adapts to theme and contrast mode without code changes.
color: var(--text-muted);
background: var(--surface-raised);
padding: var(--space-4);Done is not the same as adopted.
The honest result
Finished and documented. Rollout stalled without an owner in each app team.
A design system is a product with users, a roadmap and an owner. Governance starts before the first token.
Available immediately. Based in Bern, open to relocate, commute or work remotely.
