Evolving and Modernizing eBay’s Visual System

Context

With more than 25 years of history, eBay had accumulated a sprawling design infrastructure that no longer served the needs of today’s users — particularly younger audiences who expect a cleaner, more intuitive, and more inspiring digital experience. Fragmented assets, inconsistent interfaces, and outdated frameworks created barriers to innovation, making it harder to launch cohesive features at the speed our teams needed.

EVO was the answer — a complete overhaul of how design was created, shared, and evolved at eBay. It wasn’t just a new library of components. It was a modern, human-centered design system that unified eBay’s brand expression across platforms, simplified collaboration between design and engineering, and gave our teams the flexibility to innovate while staying grounded in a cohesive visual language.

Goals

We wanted eBay’s design to feel contemporary and trustworthy, with a global brand presence that resonated just as strongly in Germany as it would in California. We also needed to build for speed — creating a component-based framework that made it easier to launch new features and iterate with confidence. And, at every step, we prioritized accessibility, embedding it into the design process itself rather than treating it as an afterthought.

Process

EVO was only possible through deep collaboration across design, engineering, and product teams. We started with a comprehensive audit of eBay’s existing design assets and followed that with extensive research to understand where users experienced friction or inconsistency. Those insights fed directly into a series of cross-functional workshops, where we aligned around a shared vision for a system that could scale globally while adapting to local needs.

The heart of EVO became a robust, flexible component library — a library built not just for designers, but for engineers and product teams to work from a common foundation. By integrating tools like Figma CodeConnect and Storybook, we eliminated unnecessary handoff inefficiencies and made sure the system stayed connected from design to development. This collaborative model didn’t just improve speed — it built a stronger sense of ownership across teams, where designers and developers were equal partners in shaping the experience.

To make sure EVO truly worked for everyone, we built accessibility directly into the system. Tools like the Include Accessibility Annotations plug-in became standard in our process, ensuring that every component was designed and tested to meet the highest standards for usability — not just for the average user, but for every user.

Tenets

A System Built to Evolve

EVO is the embodiment of our shared vision to revolutionize eBay’s digital identity. It establishes a unified design language that brings consistency to every aspect of our digital presence, empowering teams to prototype and deploy features rapidly. The comprehensive component library we developed—through a true collaborative effort—has allowed us to reduce redundancy and focus on creative innovation.

This solution not only modernizes our visual and interaction design but also redefines how we collaborate across teams, aligning our collective efforts around a coherent set of design principles.

Looking Ahead

EVO isn’t static. It’s a living system, evolving alongside eBay’s business and customer needs. With a strong foundation in place, I feel proud to have helped position eBay to integrate future technologies, adapt to emerging trends, and continue delivering experiences that feel not only modern, but uniquely eBay.

Special thanks to the wonderful team at eBay, past and present, that continue to help make EVO a reality. You Rock!