SAP Design Portal

Stabilizing and leading a failing, high-complexity platform initiative through organizational, technical, and systemic uncertainty.

The SAP Design Portal was a large, high-stakes platform initiative intended to consolidate and modernize SAP’s design system documentation and resources. When I became involved, the program was already under significant strain. The existing team was fragmented, delivery had stalled, and a complex migration effort—moving more than 6,000 versioned pages from a legacy WordPress implementation to a new Adobe-based authoring system—was failing to progress.

The challenge was not limited to scale. The underlying software was still being developed while we were attempting to implement it, creating a moving target for both design and engineering. Roles and ownership were unclear, design operations were poorly defined, and there was widespread confusion about whether the effort was an innovation project or a production-grade platform. Budget constraints and limited in-house expertise compounded the situation, while the scope continued to grow without a viable execution plan.

I was initially asked to assess the situation and help clarify what was needed. Over time, my role expanded significantly. I became responsible for creating alignment across design, engineering, and stakeholder teams; establishing structure where none existed; and holding continuity through constant change. In practice, this meant deeply understanding every aspect of the system—from code and tooling constraints to content strategy, governance, and individual team contributions—and acting as the connective tissue across functions that were not naturally aligned.

The work required sustained learning and adaptation. I built close working relationships with engineering partners across the organization, sought out technical mentorship, and invested heavily in developing a working knowledge of the platform’s underlying architecture. We made deliberate tradeoffs, prioritizing system stability, delivery, and long-term viability over visual refreshes or short-term polish.

The result was a successful launch and stabilization of the platform. Beyond delivery, the work established clearer ownership, stronger cross-functional partnerships, and a growing community around the portal itself. What emerged was not just a functioning system, but a foundation for ongoing evolution—one built through structure, trust, and a shared understanding of how complex work actually gets done.