Designing clarity in complex ESG data systems

Improving usability, consistency and development scalability for Real Estate Sustainability SaaS.
Client:
Building Minds GmbH (Schindler group)
Completed:
Website:
https://www.buildingminds.com

Context


BuildingMinds operates in the real estate sustainability space, helping professionals manage and act on ESG data across large portfolios.

The platform was powerful but increasingly fragmented — inconsistent UI patterns, growing feature complexity, and misalignment across teams were slowing down both users and product development.


Latest news:
BuildingMinds Design System, after rebrush, won the IF Design Award in 2026.
Built on 57+ user interviews and 23 rounds of usability testing, with every decision
rooted in how real estate professionals actually work with ESG data.

My role


Senior Product Designer

I worked across the entire platform, focusing on:
UI system redesign and consistency
design system evolution
product–design–engineering alignment
– new features and dashboard design (Incl. User Testing)

improving usability in data-heavy workflows

I also mentored a junior designer and helped establish more structured design practices across teams (Tasks boards and Agile cerimonies integration).

Core challenge


The main challenge was adding new features,
while making an already complex system understandable, scalable, and usable.

This meant:
reducing cognitive load in data-dense interfaces  
aligning multiple teams around shared patterns  
enabling faster product development without sacrificing quality

Approach

I approached the problem as a system redesign, not a visual refresh.

The work focused on three layers:
– interface clarity (UI rebrush)
– system consistency (design system)
– team alignment (process & collaboration)

Every decision was grounded in user research:
57+ user interviews and 23 usability testing sessions.

No items found.

UI Rebrush

I led a platform-wide UI rebrush to improve clarity and usability across core workflows.

This included:
refining layout structure and spacing  
improving typography and visual hierarchy
simplifying color usage for better signal vs noise

Design System

The platform lacked a shared design system, leading to inconsistencies across teams and features.
I introduced a modular system of reusable components, including:
– multi-column form patterns  
– data tables and KPI modules  
– filters and dialog systems  

This enabled:
consistent UX across the platform  
faster implementation cycles  
better collaboration between design and engineering  

The design system was later recognized with the iF Design Award 2026.

Process & Team Impact

Beyond UI, I worked on improving how teams collaborate and make decisions.

I introduced:
structured workflows via Azure DevOps  
– shared ticket templates with POs
– regular feedback and critique rituals

I also collaborated closely with engineers through technical deep-dives,
ensuring design decisions were feasible and scalable.

Product Impact

The impact of the redesign was both product and organizational:

Reduced UI inconsistencies across core workflows
Improved task efficiency in complex data interactions  
Increased clarity in information-dense interfaces
Faster onboarding for new users  
– Stronger adoption of shared design patterns across teams  

Key Insight

In complex B2B systems, clarity come from structuring how users interact with data.

Consistency, hierarchy, and system thinking have a bigger impact than visual polish alone.

Social proof

“Caterina’s no-nonsense attitude made it really easy and fun to work with her.
We made decisions quickly without dragging out the ideation process. Her structured mindset and ability to hold the line on what matters—while adapting to business needs—was truly inspiring.”

- Chirill Cebotari, Senior Product Owner

I greatly appreciate Caterina's open and honest nature. She possesses a wealth of
experience and a wide skillset as a designer. Caterina effectively leverages her
experience to optimize processes within the design team and improve cross-team
collaboration. Her skillset has also contributed to enhancing the quality of design on
our platform, as clearly demonstrated by the Rebrush project. Caterina's expertise has
had a significant impact on the success of the team.

- Catharina Börgert, Junior Designer

Check other projects

see all