Enterprise Product Capability Models
Designing a reusable, capability-driven foundation for complex enterprise systems
Client
London Stock Exchange Group
Service Provided
Principal Designer, operating as design lead
Head of Product design
Design team size
2
Enterprise Product Capability Models
Designing a reusable, capability-driven foundation for complex enterprise systems
Client
London Stock Exchange Group
Service Provided
Head of Product design
Design team size
2
Impact at a Glance
Impact at a Glance
Foundational product functionality was consolidated into shared, UX-led capabilities, removing repeated investment in core features and significantly reducing delivery friction across the portfolio.
Teams accelerated delivery by reusing validated capability patterns rather than rebuilding foundational flows. Multiple global teams aligned on a shared model, improving consistency, reducing operational risk, and enabling faster, more predictable roadmap delivery.
55%
Increase in speed of delivery
55%
Increase in speed of delivery
55%
Increase in speed of delivery
3x
Reduction in development effort
3x
Reduction in development effort
3x
Reduction in development effort
10+
Global teams aligned
10+
Global teams aligned
10+
Global teams aligned
12+
Reusable capabilities established
12+
Reusable capabilities established
12+
Reusable capabilities established
20+
Senior stakeholders engaged
20+
Senior stakeholders engaged
20+
Senior stakeholders engaged
The Goal:
FTSE Russell needed to scale its internal product ecosystem without increasing complexity or delivery risk. Foundational functionality was at risk of being rebuilt across teams, slowing delivery and fragmenting the experience.
Kirschstein creative's role was to highlight this as a capability and governance problem, establishing a reusable, UX led foundation that enabled autonomy without fragmentation.
1
The Goal:
FTSE Russell needed to scale its internal product ecosystem without increasing complexity or delivery risk. Foundational functionality was at risk of being rebuilt across teams, slowing delivery and fragmenting the experience.
Kirschstein creative's role was to highlight this as a capability and governance problem, establishing a reusable, UX led foundation that enabled autonomy without fragmentation.
1
The Challenge:
Multiple teams were at risk of independently implementing similar functionality, creating systemic risk, inconsistent workflows, and a rising cost of change. The architecture reinforced this fragmentation through tightly coupled systems.
Key decisions included shifting from application led to capability led architecture, using UX as the unifying contract across business, design, and engineering. Optimising for long-term reuse, short-term speed and enable shared ownership without central bottlenecks
2
The Challenge:
Multiple teams were at risk of independently implementing similar functionality, creating systemic risk, inconsistent workflows, and a rising cost of change. The architecture reinforced this fragmentation through tightly coupled systems.
Key decisions included shifting from application led to capability led architecture, using UX as the unifying contract across business, design, and engineering. Optimising for long-term reuse, short-term speed and enable shared ownership without central bottlenecks
2
The Result:
A modular, capability driven foundation replaced duplicated implementations. Core capabilities were built once and reused across products through consistent UX patterns and shared services.
The outcome was vast including reduced development effort, faster predictable delivery and a scalable foundation aligned across UX, architecture and product strategy.
3
The Result:
A modular, capability driven foundation replaced duplicated implementations. Core capabilities were built once and reused across products through consistent UX patterns and shared services.
The outcome was vast including reduced development effort, faster predictable delivery and a scalable foundation aligned across UX, architecture and product strategy.
3
Scalable Architecture Review
Scalable Architecture Review
This engagement established the conditions for sustainable, large-scale innovation. By aligning UX, architecture and product strategy around reusable capabilities, teams were able to move faster while reducing cost and risk.
The outcome was not just a technical improvement, but a structural shift, enabling them to evolve a coherent product ecosystem without reintroducing fragmentation, inconsistency or user friction.
Project Overview
Project Overview
A strategic walkthrough of the engagement
1
Defining Shared Capabilities
Core product functions were identified and abstracted into reusable capabilities. UX played a central role in surfacing repeated interaction patterns, behavioural expectations, and workflow logic, ensuring consistency was designed, not enforced.
1
Defining Shared Capabilities
Core product functions were identified and abstracted into reusable capabilities. UX played a central role in surfacing repeated interaction patterns, behavioural expectations, and workflow logic, ensuring consistency was designed, not enforced.
1
Defining Shared Capabilities
Core product functions were identified and abstracted into reusable capabilities. UX played a central role in surfacing repeated interaction patterns, behavioural expectations, and workflow logic, ensuring consistency was designed, not enforced.
2
Redesigning the Architecture
Monolithic systems were deliberately decomposed into event-driven services. Frontend concerns were decoupled from backend logic, enabling products to be composed flexibly and evolved independently. This trade off favoured long term scalability and reuse over short term delivery convenience.
2
Redesigning the Architecture
Monolithic systems were deliberately decomposed into event-driven services. Frontend concerns were decoupled from backend logic, enabling products to be composed flexibly and evolved independently. This trade off favoured long term scalability and reuse over short term delivery convenience.
2
Redesigning the Architecture
Monolithic systems were deliberately decomposed into event-driven services. Frontend concerns were decoupled from backend logic, enabling products to be composed flexibly and evolved independently. This trade off favoured long term scalability and reuse over short term delivery convenience.
3
Aligning UX with Product Strategy
UX was embedded at the strategy level, working directly with senior stakeholders to align intent, constraints, and priorities before development began. This reduced ambiguity, limited rework, and improved confidence in delivery decisions across product, engineering and leadership teams.
3
Aligning UX with Product Strategy
UX was embedded at the strategy level, working directly with senior stakeholders to align intent, constraints, and priorities before development began. This reduced ambiguity, limited rework, and improved confidence in delivery decisions across product, engineering and leadership teams.
3
Aligning UX with Product Strategy
UX was embedded at the strategy level, working directly with senior stakeholders to align intent, constraints, and priorities before development began. This reduced ambiguity, limited rework, and improved confidence in delivery decisions across product, engineering and leadership teams.
4
Establishing Cross Team Ownership
Siloed delivery models were replaced with shared ownership of capabilities. Teams collaborated around a single source of truth, reducing conflicting requirements and improving communication across disciplines. Governance emerged through adoption, not control.
4
Establishing Cross Team Ownership
Siloed delivery models were replaced with shared ownership of capabilities. Teams collaborated around a single source of truth, reducing conflicting requirements and improving communication across disciplines. Governance emerged through adoption, not control.
4
Establishing Cross Team Ownership
Siloed delivery models were replaced with shared ownership of capabilities. Teams collaborated around a single source of truth, reducing conflicting requirements and improving communication across disciplines. Governance emerged through adoption, not control.
5
Implementing the Capability Model
A capability registry defined reusable frontend components, shared services, and unified workflows. This provided teams with a clear framework for adoption, reducing onboarding time and improving consistency across the ecosystem.
5
Implementing the Capability Model
A capability registry defined reusable frontend components, shared services, and unified workflows. This provided teams with a clear framework for adoption, reducing onboarding time and improving consistency across the ecosystem.
5
Implementing the Capability Model
A capability registry defined reusable frontend components, shared services, and unified workflows. This provided teams with a clear framework for adoption, reducing onboarding time and improving consistency across the ecosystem.
6
Enabling Scalable Deployment
Capabilities were deployed using microservices, event-driven patterns, and feature flags. This enabled incremental rollout, controlled adoption, and rapid scaling without disrupting live systems or ongoing delivery.
6
Enabling Scalable Deployment
Capabilities were deployed using microservices, event-driven patterns, and feature flags. This enabled incremental rollout, controlled adoption, and rapid scaling without disrupting live systems or ongoing delivery.
6
Enabling Scalable Deployment
Capabilities were deployed using microservices, event-driven patterns, and feature flags. This enabled incremental rollout, controlled adoption, and rapid scaling without disrupting live systems or ongoing delivery.
Principal Insight
At enterprise scale, consistency is not achieved through standardisation alone. It emerges when teams are given well designed capabilities that align autonomy with coherence.
This engagement demonstrated that UX led capability design can reduce cost, accelerate delivery, and create systems that scale, technically, organisationally, and experientially.
