Carl Fairclough
Zeroheight identity on its original pink brand colour
I worked with the founders to move Zeroheight from file synchronisation towards the more durable problem of documenting, sharing and governing design systems.

What should Zeroheight become when file sync stopped being defensible?

As Sketch absorbed the original synchronisation proposition, I worked with the founders to identify a more durable problem: helping teams explain, share, and govern their design systems.

Product stage
Pivot

From synchronisation utility to documentation platform

Connected experiences
2

Maintainers author · teams consume

Product layers
4

Assets · guidance · publishing · governance

  1. 1Sketch absorbs sync
  2. 2Find the durable problem
  3. 3Reframe the product
  4. 4Build the new model

Product pivot · 2017. I worked directly with the founders across product direction, architecture, and interaction design.

The pivot redefined the company around two connected experiences and four durable product layers.
Published Zeroheight style guide with navigation, documentation, usage examples and downloadable assets
The published experience brought guidance, reusable assets and usage examples into one navigable system.

Could one system serve authors and readers without becoming a CMS?

Maintainers needed flexible authoring and governance. Everyone else needed a clear, searchable source of truth. The architecture connected both without exposing unnecessary complexity.

Authoring model
Flexible

Create, group, reorder, and nest sections in context

Content model
Structured

Guidance and examples attached to system assets

Published model
Searchable

One dependable destination for the wider team

  1. 1Organise sections
  2. 2Document components
  3. 3Add usage guidance
  4. 4Publish a source of truth

Product architecture · 2017. Direct manipulation kept hierarchy visible while focused tools prevented the authoring experience from becoming a heavyweight CMS.

The architecture served maintainers and readers together without turning Zeroheight into another heavyweight content-management system.
Zeroheight editing controls and responsive page structure
Direct manipulation kept page structure visible: sections, hierarchy and formatting could be changed in context.
Rich-text authoring inside a Zeroheight style guide
Focused authoring tools supported detailed guidance without turning the product into a heavyweight CMS.
A design-system component documented with overview, inspection, description and usage examples
Components became more than visual inventory: maintainers could add the context and examples needed for teams to use them correctly.
Zeroheight team-management and role controls
Team roles made governance part of the product rather than an informal process outside it.
Zeroheight connecting directly to a team's Sketch library
Sketch integration connected the maintained source library to the documentation consumed across the organisation.

Did the pivot create a durable company direction?

The new model took Zeroheight towards early product-market fit and remained recognisable as the platform expanded: synchronised assets, structured guidance, publishing, and governance in one system.

Product pivot
2017

Design-system documentation became the core proposition

Later adoption
Thousands

Teams using the platform

Product longevity
9 years

Core architecture remains visible

  1. 1Synchronise assets
  2. 2Structure guidance
  3. 3Publish the system
  4. 4Govern access

The product model established during the 2017 pivot remains visible in Zeroheight nine years later.

The 2017 pivot established a product model that reached thousands of teams and remains recognisable nine years later.