My role was to define the project's technical and design framework from the ground up. I led the UX engineering efforts, establishing core components for the Emirates Group Design System and guiding a multicultural team to create the standards needed for efficiency and future growth.
The challenge
The existing desktop client used by Emirates' call centre agents was outdated, inefficient, and difficult to scale. Call handling times were high, agents struggled to navigate complex booking options, and technical limitations hindered the growth of the global call centre team. The objective was to overhaul this legacy system into a modern, intuitive web platform.
My role
From the project's start, I took a leading role in shaping the solution and guiding the UX engineering efforts for a specialised, multicultural design squad. Our team's work enabled the four parallel agile squads developing the wider product.
The Emirates Group Design System was still in its early stages. I led the initiative to extend its capabilities, designing and specifying new custom UI components, accordions, form steppers, and range sliders, that were essential for the complex needs of the booking application.
I collaborated closely with the product research team to translate insights from call centre agents into design concepts and interactive prototypes. I also developed test scripts to validate our assumptions, using quantitative data to drive design iterations.
I established robust front-end standards for the entire program, introducing a scalable CSS architecture (SMACSS with BEM) and custom code style guides for templating and JavaScript, ensuring consistency and maintainability across a large, diverse development team.
As we modernised the platform, I helped define the evolving skill sets needed for our front-end teams. The component library and standards we created became crucial for onboarding and mentoring new members, directly supporting a significant expansion in team capacity.
Outcomes
ResConnect successfully launched as a modern, web-based booking platform for Emirates' global call centres, giving agents a more intuitive and efficient tool.
The design system and engineering standards work was a key factor in enabling the broader Emirates team to scale its capacity by 80% for related projects. The modular components and style guides supported all future web application development within the group.
Custom components and clear coding standards improved consistency, collaboration, and code quality across all development squads. Leading a multicultural team to establish clear, collaborative workflows turned out to be just as important as the technical standards themselves, we delivered a product, but we also built a more effective way of working across the organisation.