Bringing Structure to Design Documentation

At France.tv, I led the creation of a structured design documentation system to address major inefficiencies in handoffs, collaboration, and alignment. By embedding documentation directly in Figma, centralizing workflows in Confluence, and introducing version control, I helped teams reduce miscommunication, speed up reviews, and streamline PI planning across product, design, and engineering.

Context

When I arrived at France.tv, there was no structured documentation for design. This created major inefficiencies and misalignment between design, development, and other transverse teams. The lack of a clear system led to:

  • Developers not knowing where to find information—leading to delays and misinterpretations.
  • Figma files constantly changing—making it difficult to track what was final and ready for development.
  • Design System components evolving without documentation—causing inconsistencies across platforms.
  • No feature use cases documented—resulting in unclear implementation guidelines and repeated discussions.

This lack of structured documentation directly impacted collaboration, making handoffs chaotic, PI planning inefficient, and causing frequent back-and-forths between teams.

The Solution: Documentation + Process = Clarity

To address these pain points, I introduced a structured, cross-functional documentation framework:

1. Documentation Embedded in Figma
  • Structured pages so developers could easily identify final, dev-ready designs
  • Annotated all design decisions inside Figma—making rationale and edge cases visible
  • Introduced basic version control to mark approved vs. work-in-progress files
2. Centralized Workflows in Confluence
  • Created templates and structure for:
    • Design handoff workflows
    • Feature specs and use cases
    • Component logic and system-level updates
  • Made documentation easily accessible to product, dev, and QA teams
  • Collaborated with POs and tech leads to keep docs accurate and actionable
3. Cross-Team Documentation Standards
  • Defined shared documentation practices with engineering and product leads
  • Built alignment on where and how decisions were recorded, tracked, and validated
  • Eliminated ambiguity during sprints and PI planning

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Why It Mattered

This initiative transformed documentation from an afterthought into a core product asset. It didn’t just help designers — it created transparency, speed, and shared understanding across the entire organization.

France.tv’s design practice became more scalable, structured, and efficient, laying the foundation for future growth.

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