Designing Consistency for Spatial Computing
Project Overview
When I joined the UI Frameworks VisionOS team as the only designer, I was tasked with an ambitious goal to help Apple latest platform.
VisionOS is built for immersive experiences where every pt and pixel matters. Yet, across internal builds there were inconsistencies in UI components breaking immersion, creating accessibility issues, and slowing development.
My role was to audit, document, and prototype solutions that would align Human Interface (HI) design specs with the actual UI shipped in production code.
Problem
Visual and behavioral inconsistencies across apps were creating friction for both users and developers.
Buttons, text styles, and core components didn’t match HI guidelines. There was no standardized validation process between design and code, leading to wasted time and unclear handoffs across 40+ internal products.
Learning through frameworks
As the only designer embedded within an engineering-heavy team, one of my early challenges was learning how to actually read internal build logs and debug visual elements using Xcode as these skills were still being developed. This learning curve slowed my initial audits but I kept pushing forward, gaining a deeper technical foundation that would help me in bridging design and engineering.
The Specs don't match
Auditing the VisionOS builds revealed significant visual drift between design intent and implementation. To confirm this, I extracted device logs and loaded specs directly into Sketch for side-by-side comparisons, uncovering multiple variants of buttons, badges, and text styles that weren’t aligned with the official HI assets. I then documented these findings in shared reports with engineers, QA, and the HI design team to drive alignment across builds.
RESEARCH
Understanding design systems
Design systems at Apple are built to scale across thousands of use cases, but that complexity can make documentation difficult. I studied existing internal and external systems (Apple, Shopify, Google Material) and applied atomic design principles to organize and simplify our components.
I collaborated directly with engineers to understand where breakdowns occurred whether in documentation, handoff, or implementation. This research grounded my approach to ensure that the engineering hand off process from design was streamlined.
PROTOTYPE
KEEPING IT SIMPLE, YET SCALABLE
Using Sketch, and Xcode, I created test prototypes for new standardized components: buttons, modals, and list views.
I also designed automated visual validation scripts using XCTests in Swift, helping engineers quickly identify and correct mismatched UI elements during QA.
These prototypes served as both design documentation and testing tools — reducing ambiguity across teams.
TESTING
BUT DID IT WORK?
After several test cycles, we were able to see measurable improvements:
TESTING
Final Deliverables
After several test cycles, we saw measurable improvements:
WHAT I LEARNED
My six months with Apple’s UI Frameworks team was transformative. I learned how important design systems impact engineering workflows and how much communication matters in large cross-functional teams.
Reflection
Coming from an Apple Retail and UI/UX design background, I approached the work with empathy for both sides the designer’s vision and the engineer’s solution.
By building prototypes and debugging tools myself, I gained firsthand insight into how design and engineering converge to create a well designed product.