During the second half of my CNN internship, my work shifted from newsroom-facing tools to the internal infrastructure designers and engineers rely on every day.​ I focused on refining core components for Spectra, the design system for CNN's CMS (Stellar).

After conducting an audit of 70+ placeholder patterns in Stellar, I found overlapping behaviors, inconsistent visuals, and vague labels that made it harder for platform designers to move quickly and stay aligned with production. Partnering with product designers, content designers, and engineering, I refactored placeholders into a reusable Spectra component set with clear variants, sharper labels, and stronger guidance for when to use each.​

This case study is still a work in progress. In the meantime, I've prepared a slide deck documenting my design decisions and impact metrics.