Enterprise Developer Hub Site Builder

Project Overview

A global technology company engaged me to support the early-stage vision and execution of a developer hub site builder which is a customizable platform to generate branded developer hub sites for enterprise clients like [Redacted Fortune 100 clients]. Though initially scoped for theme and template design, my role rapidly evolved into one of strategic product leadership, shaping both the site builder’s user experience and the site templates it would produce.

Note: All client names and internal product terminology have been intentionally blurred for NDA compliance.

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Business Context

The company was building a Squarespace-style site builder, purpose-built for developer documentation. Clients needed to spin up scalable, branded developer hubs to house thousands of APIs. I collaborated directly with the Design Director and supported cross-functional coordination with design, engineering, and QA teams.

Stakeholder Alignment & Discovery

Objective: Understand both product vision and client expectations to define a clear, strategic UX path.

Reviewed internal pitch decks, technical prototypes, and sandbox tools.
Conducted interviews with internal stakeholders to uncover:
- The dual nature of the product: a builder and the sites it produces.
- Key personas: Site Builder users (typically IT Managers/Engineers) vs. Site Visitors (Developers and general users).
- Benchmarked inspirational sites (BMW Developer Hub stood out for clean API presentation and visual polish).

Strategic Planning & Theming Framework

I developed a dual-tier theming and templating model to support both functionality and visual differentiation:

1. Structural Categories for Templates:

Highly Graphic, Highly Textual
Medium Graphic, Medium Textual
Low Graphic, Highly Textual
Minimalist
Maximalist

2. Visual Themes for Branding:

Manufacturing
Healthcare
Futuristic
Retro
Modern

Each combination offered a flexible yet structured foundation for clients to build on-brand, on-function developer hubs.

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Information Architecture & UX Documentation

I defined foundational information architecture (IA) for both the builder app and the generated sites:

Created flowcharts and complementary documentation for internal alignment.
Delivered component inventories based on user needs, functional requirements, and dev feasibility.
Mapped every page type (e.g., homepage, support, login) and outlined required section templates.

Collaboration & Leadership

Held weekly alignment sessions with the Design Director and async feedback cycles with dev/QA teams.

Provided documentation in dev-friendly formats (docx, annotated PDFs).

Established weekly Slack summaries to clarify evolving priorities and maintain progress visibility.

Maintained diplomacy amid cross-team tension—positioned UX as a neutral strategic function.

UX + UI Execution

Navigation Strategy

I created two scalable navigation patterns:

Top Navigation + In-page nav
Sidebar Navigation + expandable sections

These designs prioritized usability for documentation-heavy experiences and earned strong feedback from both internal stakeholders and the design leadership.

Page Templates & Section Modules

I began crafting high-fidelity UI designs for key pages (e.g., homepage, support, login), with modular section templates that could be re-used across different site themes.

Each section came with:

4–5 design variants
Grid
Strategic UX notes
Site builder-specific UI for adding/editing/removing components

These were built with scalability and theme adaptability in mind—ensuring long-term maintainability for engineering and flexibility for end users.

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I also handed off detailed strategy and design system documentation notes which allowed future designers to work off of and developers to reference for implementation.

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Final Thoughts

While the engagement was brief, my impact was immediate and foundational. I brought structure, strategy, and design clarity to a project that was still forming—setting up the design team and engineering stakeholders with a roadmap they could move forward with confidently.

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Outcomes & Impact

Even within a short timeframe, I:

Established a strategic design foundation that clarified direction for teams across design, QA, and engineering.
Delivered a framework for long-term scalability, including themes, templates, and site builder UX components.
Earned praise from senior leadership: The Global Head of Design noted my contribution and expressed a desire to collaborate again in future projects.

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What This Demonstrates

Strategic Thinking: Delivered thematic + structural strategy tailored to complex client needs and technical limitations
Cross-functional Leadership: Navigated fractured team dynamics and aligned priorities across departments
High-Quality Execution: Produced usable, modular UI ready for enterprise-scale dev hub needs
Client-Oriented Design: Ensured UX decisions were grounded in enterprise customer expectations and developer usability

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Led the foundational UX strategy for a site builder aimed at Fortune 100 developer ecosystems.