Reckitt

Unlocking Design Quality at Scale

Portfolio Strategy & Design Systems

Example design system components

How do you make a global impact on quality for a portfolio of 600 websites?

You reframe them from 600 bespoke, individual products to 600 customised variations of a globalised product.

Reckitt

Unlocking Design Quality at Scale

Portfolio Strategy & Design Systems

Example design system components

How do you make a global impact on quality for a portfolio of 600 websites?

You reframe them from 600 bespoke, individual products to 600 customised variations of a globalised product.

Reckitt

Unlocking Design Quality at Scale

Portfolio Strategy & Design Systems

Example design system components

How do you make a global impact on quality for a portfolio of 600 websites?

You reframe them from 600 bespoke, individual products to 600 customised variations of a globalised product.

The Friction

Reckitt's experience quality was haphazard, inconsistent and underperforming. Low confidence had led to underfunding and inadequate maintenance.

The Friction

Reckitt's experience quality was haphazard, inconsistent and underperforming. Low confidence had led to underfunding and inadequate maintenance.

The Pivot

From a decentralised, agency-led model to a centralised product ecosystem. We laid the foundation to replace 600 bespoke projects with a governed, multi-brand design system supporting four strategic experience tiers.

The Pivot

From a decentralised, agency-led model to a centralised product ecosystem. We laid the foundation to replace 600 bespoke projects with a governed, multi-brand design system supporting four strategic experience tiers.

The Impact

Pilot sites were delivered over twice as fast, at half the cost, with accessibility by design, and were the most performant and high-quality websites in the Reckitt portfolio. Full rollout was approved.

The Impact

Pilot sites were delivered over twice as fast, at half the cost, with accessibility by design, and were the most performant and high-quality websites in the Reckitt portfolio. Full rollout was approved.

Contribution

UX Director (Portfolio Strategy, Governance, Cross-Functional Alignment & Design System Leadership)

Contribution

UX Director (Portfolio Strategy, Governance, Cross-Functional Alignment & Design System Leadership)

Right-Sizing the Digital Portfolio

In a global portfolio, not every brand, market, or digital experience is equal. We abandoned the assumption that every destination needs to be a high-fidelity, custom platform. Instead, we defined four tiers based on brand maturity, maintenance capacity, and traffic potential; ensuring that investment was always proportionate to business impact.

Brand Snapshot

A single page site designed for low-interest heritage brands primarily to route users to retailers or support.

Complexity:

Low

Maintenance:

Near-zero

Requires:

None

Product Catalogue

A digital shelf for brands to showcase their range to prospective & existing customers.

Complexity:

Moderate

Maintenance:

Low

Requires:

Organic brand search or media investment

Content Funnel

Builds evergreen content to attract users from high-volume category and brand searches and lead them through product recommendations and retail referral.

Complexity:

Moderately High

Maintenance:

Moderate

Example:

Requires:

High volume category search & media investment

Engagement Hub

Designed for priority brands with active communities. Facilitates ongoing relationship building through dynamic content, eNewsletters, and fresh topical updates.

Complexity:

Custom

Maintenance:

Continuous

Example:

Requires:

Repeat visitation, dedicated resource & investment

Add-on: eCommerce

Empowering an eCommerce checkout for DTC brands & markets.

Add-on: Sales Promotion

3rd party partner integration of sales promotions & landing pages.

Chameleon: Scaling Execution

Defining the right tier of experience is the decision; Chameleon is the execution. We abandoned bespoke builds from scratch and crafted an accessible and performant multi-brand design system to deliver quality at scale.

A collage of Chameleon components

A small sample of Chameleon components and patterns

Scrollable screenshot
Scrollable screenshot

From Pilot to Portfolio

We proved the value of Chameleon by strategically targeting high-impact, lean-budget brands first; demonstrating that quality and efficiency were not mutually-exclusive. This proof-of-concept secured the executive mandate for a full portfolio rollout.

Over 2x Faster

Chameleon sites were delivered in days and weeks, not months.

Over 50% Cost Savings

Component reuse drove dramatic budget savings.

60+ Net Promoter Score

Achieved an overwhelming recommendation rate from marketers.

Accessible by Design

Templates & components met and exceeded WCAG 2.2 AA standards.

The Highest Quality

Chameleon sites delivered Silktide Quality Scores >90% vs a 50% portfolio avg.

Performance-leading

Chameleon sites set Reckitt records for technical performance in Google Core Web Vitals.

Contact

Let's strike up a conversation

© 2026 Nathan McKean

Contact

Let's strike up a conversation

© 2026 Nathan McKean

Contact

Let's strike up a conversation

© 2026 Nathan McKean

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