/ Neo Design System
Yahoo Finance / Principal Product Designer / 3+ years
Stakeholder alignment
Component design
Documentation
Library structure
Token architecture
Engineering coordination
Where things stood
When I joined Yahoo Finance, design was happening across six squads with no shared foundation. Designers maintained their own component files. Engineers built from scratch or borrowed inconsistently from each other. There were shared files, but no real system. Just tribal knowledge held together by habit.
/ Neo Design System
Yahoo Finance / Principal Product Designer / 3+ years
Stakeholder alignment
Component design
Documentation
Library structure
Token architecture
Engineering coordination
Where things stood
When I joined Yahoo Finance, design was happening across six squads with no shared foundation. Designers maintained their own component files. Engineers built from scratch or borrowed inconsistently from each other. There were shared files, but no real system. Just tribal knowledge held together by habit.
/ Neo Design System
Yahoo Finance / Principal Product Designer / 3+ years
Stakeholder alignment
Component design
Documentation
Library structure
Token architecture
Engineering coordination
Where things stood
When I joined Yahoo Finance, design was happening across six squads with no shared foundation. Designers maintained their own component files. Engineers built from scratch or borrowed inconsistently from each other. There were shared files, but no real system. Just tribal knowledge held together by habit.
/ Neo Design System
Yahoo Finance / Principal Product Designer / 3+ years
Stakeholder alignment
Component design
Documentation
Library structure
Token architecture
Engineering coordination
Where things stood
When I joined Yahoo Finance, design was happening across six squads with no shared foundation. Designers maintained their own component files. Engineers built from scratch or borrowed inconsistently from each other. There were shared files, but no real system. Just tribal knowledge held together by habit.
Fast forward to today. A well-functioning design system:
Fast forward to today.
A well-functioning design system:
54.5%
of engineers said implementation was 50% faster with Neo*
81.8%
of engineers said work would have been slower or riskier without Neo*
* From the 2025 Q4 review
The first real decision
Before building a single component, I had to answer one question: ship early and messy, or wait until the system was ready?
I chose early. A UI kit first, incomplete by design. Designers adopted it immediately because it solved a real problem they had that week. That early traction meant that when we needed to introduce tokens, refactor components, or expand to native, we weren't asking teams to adopt something new. We were improving something they already depended on.
A more complete system released later would have faced a harder adoption problem. This one didn't.
The first real decision
Before building a single component, I had to answer one question: ship early and messy, or wait until the system was ready?
I chose early. A UI kit first, incomplete by design. Designers adopted it immediately because it solved a real problem they had that week. That early traction meant that when we needed to introduce tokens, refactor components, or expand to native, we weren't asking teams to adopt something new. We were improving something they already depended on.
A more complete system released later would have faced a harder adoption problem. This one didn't.
What Neo became
Over multiple years, Neo grew into a comprehensive system covering Yahoo Finance desktop web, mobile web, iOS, and Android.
The full system included a Figma component library, a coded component library in parity with it, and a documentation prototype serving as a living reference for both designers and engineers. The token architecture was set up early and deliberately. Not because dark mode was on the roadmap, but because I knew it was coming.
Pages from the documentation site
What Neo became
Over multiple years, Neo grew into a comprehensive system covering Yahoo Finance desktop web, mobile web, iOS, and Android.
The full system included a Figma component library, a coded component library in parity with it, and a documentation prototype serving as a living reference for both designers and engineers. The token architecture was set up early and deliberately. Not because dark mode was on the roadmap, but because I knew it was coming.
Pages from the documentation site
Pages from the documentation site
Pages from the documentation site
Building with engineering, not around them
Engineering was indifferent at the start. They wanted product shipped. I didn't pitch a vision. I just helped the engineers dealing with the most friction and let usefulness do the persuading.
A federated engineering model didn't hold. The incentives didn't align. We moved to a small dedicated systems team, which gave Neo the focused ownership it needed to stay consistent and grow.
Props for the filter chip and menu components
Building with engineering, not around them
Engineering was indifferent at the start. They wanted product shipped. I didn't pitch a vision. I just helped the engineers dealing with the most friction and let usefulness do the persuading.
A federated engineering model didn't hold. The incentives didn't align. We moved to a small dedicated systems team, which gave Neo the focused ownership it needed to stay consistent and grow.
Props for the filter chip and menu components
A system stress test
Neo scaled in directions it was never designed for. Heavily leaning on dark mode, we built a terminal experience aligning 90% to the core intent. It diverged where the terminal experience demanded it. Those new patterns, chart toolbars, card headers, and new button variants, were eventually folded back into Neo. That two-way exchange is a sign of a healthy system.
Unfortunately, I can't share the new product until it's released.
A system stress test
Neo scaled in directions it was never designed for. Heavily leaning on dark mode, we built a terminal experience aligning 90% to the core intent. It diverged where the terminal experience demanded it. Those new patterns, chart toolbars, card headers, and new button variants, were eventually folded back into Neo. That two-way exchange is a sign of a healthy system.
Unfortunately, I can't share the new product until it's released.
What the numbers showed
At the end of Q4 we surveyed designers, product managers, and engineers. Every designer could get support without being blocked. Two thirds said Neo saved them 81 to 100 percent of time versus designing from scratch. 54.5% of engineers said it made implementation 50% or more faster. 81.8% said their work that quarter would have been slower or riskier without it.
What the numbers showed
At the end of Q4 we surveyed designers, product managers, and engineers. Every designer could get support without being blocked. Two thirds said Neo saved them 81 to 100 percent of time versus designing from scratch. 54.5% of engineers said it made implementation 50% or more faster. 81.8% said their work that quarter would have been slower or riskier without it.
The proof that mattered most
When Yahoo Finance underwent a major visual overhaul, we updated the entire product in place. No fork, no parallel system, no painful migration. That only works if the foundation was solid from the start.
That's what Neo was built to make possible.
Some of the many components updated on the homepage
The proof that mattered most
When Yahoo Finance underwent a major visual overhaul, we updated the entire product in place. No fork, no parallel system, no painful migration. That only works if the foundation was solid from the start.
That's what Neo was built to make possible.
Some of the many components updated on the homepage
This is where the other stories start
The token architecture made dark mode possible. Widespread adoption, foundational to robust components and patterns, made the visual language evolution possible without forking. The sprint updates and quarterly reviews kept six squads aligned while all of it was being built.
Story component variables and shown with content.
This is where the other stories start
The token architecture made dark mode possible. Widespread adoption, foundational to robust components and patterns, made the visual language evolution possible without forking. The sprint updates and quarterly reviews kept six squads aligned while all of it was being built.
Story component variables and shown with content.
Many, many components
Many, many components
Related
Dark mode and the visual language evolution were both built on Neo's foundation. These case studies show what that made possible.
Related
Dark mode and the visual language evolution were both built on Neo's foundation. These case studies show what that made possible.
Related
Dark mode and the visual language evolution were both built on Neo's foundation. These case studies show what that made possible.
Related
Dark mode and the visual language evolution were both built on Neo's foundation. These case studies show what that made possible.
©2026 Drew Marshall. Site designed and built by yours truly (+ Claude)
Type set in Mori and Fraktion by Mat Desjardins and Pangram Pangram,
Slow Death by Ayyara Letterindo, IM Fell English by Igino Marini
Grid lines
Dark mode
Metal mode
.
©2026 Drew Marshall. Site designed and built by yours truly (+ Claude)
Type set in Mori and Fraktion by Mat Desjardins and Pangram Pangram,
Slow Death by Ayyara Letterindo, IM Fell English by Igino Marini
Grid lines
Dark mode
Metal mode
.
©2026 Drew Marshall. Site designed and built by yours truly (+ Claude)
Type set in Mori and Fraktion by Mat Desjardins and Pangram Pangram,
Slow Death by Ayyara Letterindo, IM Fell English by Igino Marini
Grid lines
Dark mode
Metal mode
.
©2026 Drew Marshall. Site designed and built by yours truly (+ Claude)
Type set in Mori and Fraktion by Mat Desjardins and Pangram Pangram,
Slow Death by Ayyara Letterindo, IM Fell English by Igino Marini
Grid lines
Dark mode
Metal mode
.