Before SIUX, at Despegar · 2014 – 2022
A design system 500+ engineers build with
Before SIUX, Marcos led EVA, the design system behind Despegar's travel products, from its first UI library to a platform shared by design, content and engineering.
- components adopted
- 130
- engineers building with EVA
- 500+
- faster development
- 30–50%
- dynamic packages a month
- 100K+
Context and role
Despegar sells travel online across Latin America, with many teams shipping to the same products.
UX engineer, then UX manager and senior UX manager, leading the teams behind EVA.
The challenge
Delivery was slowed by duplicated interface work and legacy infrastructure, and the system had to hold up as Despegar took on Falabella, Best Day and Koin.
What he led
- 2014–2016
Engineering foundations
Led the move from legacy Java to Node.js, set HTML5 and CSS3 standards and laid the base for a shared UI library.
- 2016–2018
UI Library
Built EVA User Interface: 100+ components and design patterns used by 500+ engineers.
- 2018–2019
Research
Set up EVA Research to centralise user insights, combining qualitative and quantitative methods.
- 2019
Rebranding
Carried a corporate rebrand through the design system, delivered in three months.
- 2019–2020
Content
Set up EVA Content: multiregional localisation infrastructure and voice and tone guidelines.
- 2020–2022
Platform
Grew EVA into a central collaborative platform, scaled across the Falabella, Best Day and Koin acquisitions.
Stack and references
- Figma
- Atomic Design
- Node.js
- HTML5
- CSS3