CLIENT – IBM
PROJECT – IBM.com Documentation Site
ROLE – Designer • Author • Markdown/GitHub

CHALLENGE
Enterprise-level guidance is often needlessly complex and not centralized. After several years on IBM digital marketing projects, I wanted to provide a better experience for my fellow designers. As we prepared for a site-wide CMS migration (from Drupal to AEM), our cross-disciplinary team created a documentation site for AEM usage, template/component recommendations and specs, and content/image standards. The framework and information was rigorously considered and tested.

CONSIDERATIONS
Platform: IBM’s internal documentation sites are hosted on GitHub, and coded in Markdown. Other teams pass off Figma mockups to devs, but we didn’t have the dev resources so we learned Markdown ourselves.

Adherence: The guidance supported the IBM Design Language, but expanded upon it with technical requirements while using tools like Figma and the Digital Asset Management (DAM) library.

Iteration: As an early adopter and tester of AEM, I had to anticipate the designers’ needs pre-migration, while acting quickly to supplement with additional guidance as needed during migration.

GOAL
Create a comprehensive resource for everyone who has a role in maintaining IBM.com – designers, writers, strategists, developers, etc. My key contributions were the design-focused guidance pages, detailed tutorial decks* and enablement sessions.

DOCS SITE PAGES
• Design resource guide (with links to other sites)
• Image types (with specs table)
• Visual expression and fidelity
• Screenshot procurement (Mac/Windows, desktop/mobile)
• Editing product imagery
• Logo format guidance
• Headshot guidance
• Working in DAM (how to upload and updates assets, create managed collections, add metadata, stock photography)

*Available upon request