When I joined the Harvard Web Publishing team as a UX Researcher and Designer in December 2022, I stepped into what was an agency-like environment—a team that provided UX research, design, and content strategy services to schools and units across Harvard’s digital landscape. For years, the team had operated as a centralized resource, providing services and guidance for various schools and units to meet their web publishing needs. It was exactly the type of role I wanted, one where I could make an impact across diverse projects and departments.
But within my first six months in this role, the team’s focus took a major turn. We moved from an agency model to a product team. Harvard Web Publishing had taken on transformation-focused program dedicated to improving Harvard’s web publishing ecosystem at a fundamental level. This change centered on building a new, university-wide platform, HarvardSites Drupal, and creating a supporting design system that would bring consistency, accessibility, and modern design to all of Harvard’s digital presence.
This transformation program aims to modernize and unify Harvard’s web publishing services and platforms in a way that would better support faculty, students, administrators, and the entire campus community. This new platform, accompanied by the new HarvardSites design system, was to replace a legacy web publishing platform known as OpenScholar. It was ambitious, to say the least. At the time of writing this post, our team is still elbows deep in this initiative!
An Unexpected Challenge: Adapting to Rapid Change
At first, the shift was overwhelming—the scale and complexity of this transformation program required a complete change in how we operated and thought about our work. Rather than assisting individual schools with customized services, we were creating an enterprise solution for the entire university. This was about more than just a new tool; it was about creating a scalable, adaptable system that could serve Harvard’s diverse needs.
The transition wasn’t just a change in our goals but also in the structure and demands on our team. To bring HarvardSites Drupal to life, our team grew rapidly, bringing in more engineers to join our already diverse team of UX researchers and designers, project managers, and engineers. Harvard’s Digital Accessibility Services team joined us in guiding the accessibility efforts to ensure we met the highest standards. We also partnered with a third-party vendor, tapping into specialized expertise to assist us in this major transition.
Suddenly, the nature of our work had evolved, our responsibilities had multiplied, and the work touched nearly every area of UX, web development, client engagement, and content strategy.
From Agency Work to Product Ownership: Finding a New Sense of Purpose
But something interesting happened as we dug into this work—I felt a new sense of ownership and connection to the platform and services we were building. This wasn’t a series of individual projects anymore; it was a comprehensive product that my team and I were building from the ground up.
Working on HarvardSites Drupal and the HarvardSites design system became personal, like nurturing a project that grew before our eyes. It feels like our team is bringing a new product to life, a platform that is becoming “our little baby” in a way. Seeing it evolve, facing challenges, and then experiencing the pride of watching it take shape is unlike anything I’ve felt before. This is a product that I can truly say I've had a hand in building and a sense of ownership over.
All Hands on Deck: Teamwork to Bring HarvardSites Drupal to Life
In the agency model, our team provided specialized UX services on a project-by-project basis that included services like design, user research, content strategy, and UX writing that was tailored to individual departments’ needs. The shift to a product model was transformative—our focus expanded to developing scalable solutions that would work across the board. This major change meant that our day-to-day work would expand far beyond project-based UX and content support. And it became all hands on deck! Get in where you fit in!
In a project of this magnitude, everyone stepped up in extraordinary ways. What once felt like a team of sub-teams siloed by specializations, quickly became an all-hands-on-deck operation. Each of us wear many hats to make HarvardSites Drupal a reality. Whether its research, accessibility compliance, client engagement, design, or engineering, we all pitch in wherever needed to meet our shared goals. The entire team works side by side, often outside our comfort zones, united in our commitment to deliver a platform and service to improve the web publishing needs of the Harvard Community.
Creating Something New Together: A Shared Sense of Pride and Achievement
Today, HarvardSites Drupal and the HarvardSites design system feel like a team accomplishment. This transformation program has required us all to reach beyond our individual roles and contribute to a shared product that’s designed to empower Harvard’s digital presence for years to come. We’re not just delivering a service, we’re crafting a solution that we feel deeply connected to and proud of.
Reflecting on this journey, I’m not only proud of my own growth as a UX professional but also deeply grateful for the incredible collaboration and dedication of my team. The transition from agency work to owning a shared product has been transformative for us all, and watching HarvardSites take shape is an experience I’ll carry with me throughout my career. It’s our team’s hard work, commitment, and shared vision that brought this project to life, and there’s something uniquely satisfying in knowing that we each have a part in raising this “baby” and bringing it into the world.
I’m thrilled to continue sharing more about our UX journey, the design system we’re building, and the ways we’re working to improve Harvard’s digital landscape. The work isn’t over, but the pride we feel in what we’ve achieved so far fuels us every day.
Stay tuned for more. I have tons to share! :)
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