GEL

For a major financial institution like Westpac, one of Australia's leading banks, building and maintaining customer trust is paramount. In the digital age, where banking is increasingly conducted online and through mobile devices, the quality, consistency, and reliability of the digital experience directly impact customer confidence and loyalty. Delivering on brand promises in this digital space requires a unified and efficient approach. This is precisely the role of GEL, Westpac's design system, which stands as their single source of truth, providing everything needed to deliver their brand promises and create consistent, coherent customer experiences across their entire digital landscape faster, and with less effort.

GEL's designation as Westpac's "single source of truth" is a powerful statement about its authority and centrality within the organization's digital operations. It signifies that GEL is the definitive and most current repository for all guidelines, components, patterns, and resources related to designing and developing Westpac's digital touchpoints. This centralization eliminates ambiguity and ensures that all teams involved in creating digital experiences, from designers and developers to product managers and content strategists, are working from the same playbook. This unified approach is essential for maintaining consistency across a vast and complex digital landscape that includes online banking portals, mobile applications, websites for various financial products, and potentially other digital interactions that impact the customer experience.

The core purpose of GEL is to provide "everything you need to deliver our brand promises and create consistent, coherent customer experiences." Delivering on brand promises in the digital realm means translating Westpac's core values – such as security, reliability, customer focus, and innovation – into tangible digital interactions. GEL provides the design principles, visual language, and interaction patterns that embody these promises. The emphasis on creating "consistent, coherent customer experiences" highlights the system's role in ensuring that regardless of the specific digital channel or service a customer is using, they encounter a unified look, feel, and interaction model. "Consistent" speaks to the uniformity of design elements and behaviors, while "coherent" suggests that the different parts of Westpac's digital landscape feel logically connected and contribute to a smooth and intuitive overall journey.

GEL achieves these goals by providing a comprehensive collection of resources that likely includes:

Reusable UI components: Pre-built and tested interface elements like forms for transactions, data displays for account information, navigation menus for different banking services, and secure authentication modules, all designed to be consistent and reliable.
Design guidelines and patterns: Clear instructions and recommended approaches for applying Westpac's brand identity, structuring information, handling user input, and designing common banking workflows in a user-friendly and secure manner.
Brand assets: Approved logos, typography, color palettes, and imagery guidelines that ensure consistent visual representation of the Westpac brand across all digital touchpoints.
Code snippets and developer resources: Reusable code implementations of UI components and patterns, along with documentation and tools that facilitate efficient and accurate development.
The explicit benefits of using GEL are that it allows teams to deliver these consistent and coherent experiences "faster, and with less effort." This speaks to the significant gains in efficiency that a well-implemented design system provides. By offering a centralized repository of reusable components and clear guidelines, GEL reduces the time and effort required for design and development teams to build new features or update existing ones.
Redundant work is minimized, and the process from concept to implementation is streamlined. This acceleration is crucial in the fast-paced financial services industry, allowing Westpac to innovate and respond to market changes more rapidly.

The benefits of GEL extend significantly to Westpac's customers. The consistent and coherent customer experiences built using GEL make digital banking easier, more intuitive, and more reliable. Users can navigate the complexities of managing their finances with greater confidence when the interface is predictable and familiar across different devices and services. This reduced friction and increased usability contribute to higher customer satisfaction and a stronger sense of trust in Westpac's digital channels, directly contributing to the delivery of their brand promises.

In conclusion, GEL is a critical and comprehensive design system that serves as Westpac's single source of truth for its digital landscape. By providing everything needed to deliver brand promises and create consistent, coherent customer experiences, GEL empowers Westpac's teams to work faster and with less effort. This strategic investment in a unified design system is essential for a major financial institution to build trust, ensure efficiency, and deliver a seamless and high-quality digital banking experience that meets the evolving needs of its customers. GEL is the foundational system that underpins Westpac's digital success and strengthens its relationship with its users in the digital age.