Challenge

A React refactor opened the door — engineers weren't ready to walk through it

Ticketmaster redesign — before

Aging tech made every UX improvement harder than it needed to be. A React refactor made room for a global design system, and plenty of engineering resistance.

The product was stale. The refactor was a chance to do something bigger: one design system spanning consumer and enterprise products.

Engineers weren't sold. They'd built their own ways of working over years, and a shared component library felt like it was taking that away.

Solution

Advocates first, then put the library in engineers' hands

Ticketmaster redesign — after, screen 2

Instead of mandating adoption, we heard concerns directly. Minds changed fastest once engineers could build with the new components.

I found engineering advocates early and asked them to lead discussions with their peers, backed by me and by leadership. The goal was to hear concerns and answer questions, not talk over them.

Those meetings calmed concerns, but the real shift came from getting the component library into engineers' hands. Once they could build with it instead of just hearing about it, resistance broke down.

We rolled the design system out alongside ongoing UX and feature work, held to one standard: does this make things better for the fan? That included a redesigned native mobile onboarding flow, easier ticket management, and more personalized shopping.

Results

A shared design language — and a 42-point NPS lift

+42ptNPS lift

The refactor and design system shipped together, fan-facing improvements followed, and NPS rose 42 points. For the first time, consumer and enterprise products shared one design language.

The pandemic halted the culture, energy, and rapid pace of change I oversaw. But while I was there, I helped usher in a dramatically improved Ticketmaster experience that was more fan-focused than it had ever been.