Andrew Sawers
Back to work

Merging two product systems through acquisition

I led the convergence of Decibel’s Plectrum design system into Medallia’s Alchemy foundations—standardising the enterprise shell while preserving specialist analytics capability.

Case study summary

Impact
  • 31% higher satisfaction
  • 29% higher task completion
  • 32% growth in the largest post-acquisition quarter
System scope
  • Plectrum design system
  • Alchemy foundations
  • Enterprise navigation
  • Specialist analytics
Company
Decibel / Medallia
Ownership
  • Systems integration
  • Design-system governance
  • Product architecture
  • Cross-team alignment
Signals
Acquisition IntegrationDesign SystemsEnterprise AnalyticsGovernancePlatform Strategy

The decision I owned

Treat acquisition as systems integration

Converge shared foundations; preserve specialist capability only where it earns the exception.

The visible issues—onboarding, inconsistent components and weak information architecture—were manifestations of a deeper conflict. A specialist analytics product was entering a larger enterprise platform with a different navigation model, component system and governance standard.

Two systems, different jobs

View full-size imageDecibel design system overview (Plectrum)
Plectrum before convergence. The specialist component system that had to be mapped—not simply recoloured—into Medallia’s Alchemy foundations.
Plectrum
Specialist, high-density analytics components and Decibel-specific interaction patterns.
Alchemy
Global enterprise foundations, typography, navigation and platform-shell requirements.

Options and trade-offs

Decibel and Medallia integration options
Path Benefit Risk
Keep Decibel independent Protects short-term delivery speed. Creates permanent fragmentation and duplicated foundations.
Force full replacement Maximum visual consistency. Damages specialist workflows and increases migration risk.
Governed convergence Shared foundations with explicit exceptions for product-specific capability. Chosen: requires alignment work, but balances coherence and specialist value.

The system I established

View full-size imageDecibel analytics dashboard after redesign (December 2021)
Governed convergence in the product. Medallia foundations provide the shell and hierarchy while Decibel-specific analytics remain legible and dense enough for specialist work.
View full-size imagePaper prototypes from the Decibel experience-mapping workshop
Architectural mapping. Low-cost mapping helped teams decide what should converge, adapt, remain specialist or be retired before implementation.

I introduced four explicit migration treatments so every component had a reasoned destination rather than an aesthetic preference.

Plectrum to Alchemy migration map
Treatment Examples
Converged Buttons, input fields, typography scales and colour tokens.
Adapted Data tables, side navigation and modal containers.
Preserved Heatmap overlays, session player and journey maps.
Retired Legacy header, custom scrollbars and the first icon set.
  1. Shared foundationsUnify global navigation and core layout grids immediately.
  2. Product-specific capabilityPreserve and adapt analytics interactions that carry specialist value.
  3. Governance modelRequire evidence and review for exceptions to shared foundations.

Driving alignment

The governance model only worked if Product and Engineering could use it. I facilitated workshops that made conflicts explicit, separated platform standards from genuine product requirements, and gave teams a repeatable way to decide rather than escalating every difference.

Business and UX impact

31%
Higher customer satisfaction.
29%
Higher task completion.
32%
Growth in the largest post-acquisition quarter.
Reusable foundations
Less duplication and a clearer route for future product integration.