Aligning a Global Brand with a Unified Design System

Daikin Design System

Daikin Open Innovation Lab, Silicon Valley

Daikin Industries, Ltd. is a leading innovator and global provider of advanced, high-quality air conditioning and heating solutions for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. Grio partnered with Daikin’s Open Innovation Lab, Silicon Valley to develop a detailed, cohesive design system to apply across a broad array of digital properties. Guiding the work of three Daikin subsidiaries, Daikin North America, Daikin Applied Americas, and American Air Filter Company, the design system empowers employees to represent the Daikin brand accurately and consistently.

Grio built a comprehensive design system for Daikin's product development, marketing, and design teams.

The Challenge

Create a consistent, scalable, and usable design system for a complex global brand

Prior to working with Grio, Daikin and it’s subsidiaries had never had access to centralized design documentation that was easily discovered, maintained, and shared. As a result, design decisions were inconsistent; components such as icons and colors were applied differently across properties and platforms, which limited scalability and created a confusing user experience. Grio was tasked with building a comprehensive design system that could be implemented efficiently and effectively by Daikin’s North American product development, marketing, and design teams.

Our Approach

In-depth Audit & Heuristic Analysis
Extensible System Focused on Common Elements

To understand the current state of Daikin’s user interfaces, Grio reviewed several existing design guides, and audited more than a dozen Daikin software apps. We then performed a detailed usability analysis to identify patterns and specific opportunities for improvement, especially with respect to how the Daikin brand was conveyed and defined. Finally, we used our discovery findings to produce an extensible design system architecture focused on common elements such as colors, iconography, and patterns.

It's a smart and scalable approach."

Senior Marketing Manager

Daikin Applied

The Results

Faster execution
Strong, consistent brand

Daikin’s North American business units began using the new design system as soon as the first version was released. Design, product, and marketing projects have accelerated now that these teams no longer need to spend time sorting through multiple versions of brand assets, and the Daikin brand is represented consistently across platforms, without any compromise in performance or accessibility.