Legacy Logix supports people settling and managing Estates.

May 2023 - Current

As a co-founder, I’ve been with Legacy Logix since the beginning. I’m primarily responsible for the product and design team. However, this is a startup, so I’ve worn about every hat there is… and may have invented a few new hats along the way.

Legacy Logix Design System: Creating an Accessible Estate Management Experience

Situation

Legacy Logix is a SaaS product designed to help individuals manage their personal estate information during their lifetime and provide executors with essential tools such as probate analysis and detailed task management after a death. The product needed a cohesive design system that would serve a primarily older user base with varying levels of technical proficiency and potential accessibility needs.

Task

The primary challenge was to develop a comprehensive design system that would:

  • Support multiple devices (mobile, tablet, desktop)

  • Prioritize accessibility for an older user demographic

  • Allow for internationalization/localization

  • Ensure consistency and ease of use across the platform contexts

  • Minimize development costs and time-to-market

  • Create an intuitive information architecture that separated distinct user activities

Action

I developed a strategic approach that leveraged existing design frameworks while customizing them to meet Legacy Logix's specific requirements:

Foundation & Component Development:

  • Built upon Google's Material v3 design language as a foundation

  • Implemented MUI components but modified critical elements to better leverage Material v3 advantages, particularly around color management

  • Established design tokens using Style Dictionary to ensure consistency across platforms

  • Integrated MJML for responsive email design

  • Created an image pipeline management system that used design tokens in SVG before exporting to multiple formats (SVG, JPG, PNG, WEBP)

Enhanced Accessibility Features:

  • Rebuilt core design components in Figma with accessibility-first modifications that are substantially more efficient in the Figma environment

  • Improved visual focus states beyond Material v3 standards by implementing a more prominent 3px outline (offset by 1px) with reduced corner radii, creating a total 4px highlight that adheres to the 8px grid system

  • Standardized target zones for mouse and touch interactions based on Fitts' Law principles, addressing common dexterity challenges faced by older users

  • Created custom components for elements typically overlooked in Material design, such as accessible tables and split-buttons

Information Architecture Refinement:

  • Developed a thoughtful separation of user activities based on distinct workflows:

    • Task management and work execution in one dedicated area

    • Document management (legal, financial, and important records) in another

    • Estate analytics (balance sheets, statistics, pro forma) in a management dashboard

    • Stakeholder information (attorneys, accountants, beneficiaries) in a comprehensive directory

  • Established clear pathways between these areas while maintaining separation between management functions and execution tasks

Results

The comprehensive design system for Legacy Logix delivered:

  • A highly accessible interface that specifically addresses the needs of older users through enhanced visual focus states and optimized interaction targets

  • A flexible, device-agnostic experience that maintains consistency across mobile, tablet, and desktop

  • A foundation ready for future internationalization without requiring significant redesign

  • Reduced development time through strategic use of existing frameworks (Material v3, MUI) combined with custom modifications

  • An intuitive information architecture that separates distinct user activities while maintaining clear relationships between them

  • A scalable design token system that ensures visual and functional consistency throughout the product

  • Dynamic theming that supports dark/light mode and highly effective co-branding with partners

This design system not only met the immediate needs of Legacy Logix but established a foundation that can evolve with the product while maintaining its core principles of accessibility, consistency, and intuitive user experience.

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