About

Learn how we serve the Penn community through our design system.

Mission

We create the digital design standards and tooling that help build successful digital experiences and services, in alignment with the Penn Libraries Digital Strategy.

One place

We design our digital spaces to feel like one welcoming, helpful, and unified place. By presenting as one place, our users are able to achieve the outcome they set out to do without having to become aware of or negotiate the links between the complexity of our internal organization.

Through consistent design, we can create one connected experience where users engage confidently with our collections, services, and each other.

Universal design

We design with universal design principles to create digital experiences that are usable by different people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.

Our adapted principles of universal design are:

Parity of use: Our interfaces provide comparable means of use between different people
Flexibility in use: We accommodate a wide range of individual preferences and abilities
Simple and intuitive use: Our designs require no prior knowledge of our organization to use
Perceptible information: We communicate information effectively through multiple modes and maximize legibility
Tolerance for error: Our systems minimize unintended actions and provide helpful feedback to recover
Minimal fatigue: We enable efficient and comfortable use with minimal repetitive actions
Size and space: Our interfaces provide adequate space for interaction regardless of device, input method, or abilities

Universal design principles were originally developed by NC State University's Center for Universal Design.

Digital strategy

Our design system supports key aspects of the Penn Libraries Digital Strategy:

Who we are

The design system has core support from the digital library development department.