Building Vega: a scalable design system for MGM Resorts

As Design Director, I led the creation of Vega, MGM Resorts’ first unified design system—designed to bring consistency, scalability, and efficiency across a complex ecosystem spanning web, mobile, and on-property experiences. I partnered with product and engineering leadership to define the system’s vision and governance, while also contributing hands-on to the design of its foundational elements, components, and documentation.

The Opportunity

MGM Resorts’ digital ecosystem had evolved organically across teams, platforms, and properties—resulting in fragmented design patterns, duplicated effort, and inconsistent user experiences. Multiple systems existed in parallel with little documentation or shared standards, creating significant technical and operational friction that limited the organization’s ability to scale. 

There was a clear need for a centralized, future-ready system that could unify experiences while supporting the scale and complexity of a global hospitality brand.

My Role

I led Vega as a cross-functional design initiative, aligning stakeholders across design, product, and engineering around a shared vision for a scalable system.

My role spanned both strategic leadership and hands-on execution:

• Defined system principles, architecture, and long-term vision

• Established governance, contribution workflows, and adoption strategy

• Partnered closely with engineering to ensure feasibility and scalability

• Contributed directly to tokens, components, and documentation

• Mentored and guided designers across teams to drive adoption

  
  

This dual role ensured the system was not only well-defined—but deeply grounded in real product needs.

Approach

I started by rethinking the system from the ground up—aligning brand, product, and technology into a single cohesive foundation.

• Introduced a new color system, typography, and layout structure

• Defined clear design principles aligned to MGM’s evolving brand

• Built consistency across digital and physical touchpoints
  
  

Powering the System with Design Tokens

At the core of Vega was a fully tokenized architecture, enabling centralized control over design decisions and scalable implementation.

• Created layered token structures (core, semantic, component-level)

• Enabled flexibility while minimizing future technical debt

• Automated updates across platforms through shared token logic

  
  

This approach allowed design and engineering to move faster while maintaining consistency at scale.

Building a Cross-Platform Component System

We developed a platform-agnostic component library that could scale across:

• Web (React)

• Mobile (Flutter for iOS & Android)

• On-property experiences (kiosks, tablets, large-format displays)

  
  

The system supported both customer-facing and internal tools, ensuring a unified experience across every “digital pane of glass.

Enabling Adoption Through Documentation & Governance

To ensure long-term success, we focused heavily on clarity and accessibility:

• Built comprehensive documentation covering tokens, components, content, and interactions

• Established governance models to guide contributions and maintain quality

• Created resources for both designers and engineers to accelerate onboarding

Outcome

Vega transformed how design and development operate at MGM Resorts:

• Adopted by 50+ product teams across the organization

• Enabled faster, more consistent product development

• Reduced duplication and improved cross-team collaboration

• Established a centralized source of truth for design and engineering

• Brought visual and experiential consistency across a fragmented ecosystem

  
  

Beyond the system itself, Vega set a new standard for how teams work together—introducing a more scalable, efficient, and collaborative model for building digital products at enterprise scale. 

Vega was more than a design system—it was a shift in how MGM Resorts builds products, aligning teams around a shared language and enabling the organization to scale with greater speed, clarity, and confidence.

Finalist
Zeroheight design system awards

Credits
VP, Design: Vidya Ramamurthi
Design Director: Jimmy Walker
Lead UI Designer: Brenda Flores
Product Designer: Octavia Romano
Product Designer: Erik Maxwell
Sr. Content Strategist: Jonathan Miller
Lead Illustrator: Ashley Smith
Motion Designer: Rakesh Patel
Lead Developer: Rodrigo Lopes
Lead Developer: Diego Garcia
Lead Developer: Jamicko Tan