HCL Notes — Modernizing a Legacy Enterprise Product
Role
Senior Product Designer
Timeline
Jul – Nov 2025
Team
3 designers, engineering from day one
Overview
Enterprise email and applications. Think Outlook, but 30 years old and running on-premises.
It’s used across government, financial services, healthcare and manufacturing.
If it breaks, people can’t work.
BEFORE AND AFTER
HOW I GOT HERE
I joined HCL in 2018 as the only designer on Notes. No design system. No documentation. No process.
We shipped V11 in December 2019. It proved the product could be modernized. It also drew real criticism — the new blue theme came up in most of the feedback.
In 2021 I moved to Sametime, where I learned to apply a modern design system inside real engineering constraints.
In June 2025 my director asked me back to finish the job. His message said:
"This is something that's been tried for 30 years and failed. So no pressure."
THE CONSTRAINT
We couldn't change the layout.
We couldn't change component sizes.
We couldn't use our own design system — it doesn't run on a 30-year-old engine.
We had to rebuild everything inside a box we weren't allowed to open.
THE SYSTEM
The hard part wasn't designing it. It was proving it could ship.
Every component got three columns: what it was, what V11 broke, what we proposed — down to exact color values and states.
40+ components, same treatment. Navigation, tabs, action bars, calendar, search, forms, dialogs, status bar.
THE ICONS
Notes can't render SVG. Every icon ships as a PNG.
At 16×16, one pixel off and the icon blurs. Years of icons had been built without a system around that constraint.
I audited over a thousand. Many were duplicated across the product — fix one, break another.
I redesigned the set and documented the system, so the next designer wouldn't have to rediscover it.
WHY ME
He didn't ask me for my design skills. He asked me because I knew why Notes was broken — which constraints were real, which could be challenged, and how to work with a development team that had spent years saying "we can't do that."
Before I said yes, I asked for three things: decision authority, my own team, and engineering in the room from day one.
He agreed.
OWNERSHIP
I led the design. I set our scope through a component-level audit, carried the V11 history behind every constraint, and owned the icon system end to end.
Sarah owned theme definition and calendar UI. Felix, who leads HCL's design system, advised on components. Daniel, a junior designer on my team, worked across the project.
OUTCOME
July to November. Five months. Every design delivered.
It shipped in Notes 14.5.1, theme work included. HCL’s release notes describe the result:
“The colors of the tabs have been refined to achieve a more cohesive visual presentation.”
“The Open menu is now docked by default, making its navigation icons readily available.”
“The focus color on the navigator has been updated to enhance visibility.”
“The color of the action bar has been revised to elevate the overall visual appeal.”
Notes 14.5.1 — user interface enhancements ↗
Not a set of redesigned screens — one system engineering could ship.
"Anyone can redesign something. Very few people can change every surface of a product and have nobody notice."
HCL Notes — Modernizing a Legacy Enterprise Product
Role
Senior Product Designer
Timeline
Jul – Nov 2025
Team
3 designers, engineering from day one
Overview
Enterprise email and applications. Think Outlook, but 30 years old and running on-premises.
It’s used across government, financial services, healthcare and manufacturing.
If it breaks, people can’t work.
BEFORE AND AFTER
HOW I GOT HERE
I joined HCL in 2018 as the only designer on Notes. No design system. No documentation. No process.
We shipped V11 in December 2019. It proved the product could be modernized. It also drew real criticism — the new blue theme came up in most of the feedback.
In 2021 I moved to Sametime, where I learned to apply a modern design system inside real engineering constraints.
In June 2025 my director asked me back to finish the job. His message said:
"This is something that's been tried for 30 years and failed. So no pressure."
THE CONSTRAINT
We couldn't change the layout.
We couldn't change component sizes.
We couldn't use our own design system — it doesn't run on a 30-year-old engine.
We had to rebuild everything inside a box we weren't allowed to open.
THE SYSTEM
The hard part wasn't designing it. It was proving it could ship.
Every component got three columns: what it was, what V11 broke, what we proposed — down to exact color values and states.
40+ components, same treatment. Navigation, tabs, action bars, calendar, search, forms, dialogs, status bar.
THE ICONS
Notes can't render SVG. Every icon ships as a PNG.
At 16×16, one pixel off and the icon blurs. Years of icons had been built without a system around that constraint.
I audited over a thousand. Many were duplicated across the product — fix one, break another.
I redesigned the set and documented the system, so the next designer wouldn't have to rediscover it.
WHY ME
He didn't ask me for my design skills. He asked me because I knew why Notes was broken — which constraints were real, which could be challenged, and how to work with a development team that had spent years saying "we can't do that."
Before I said yes, I asked for three things: decision authority, my own team, and engineering in the room from day one.
He agreed.
OWNERSHIP
I led the design. I set our scope through a component-level audit, carried the V11 history behind every constraint, and owned the icon system end to end.
Sarah owned theme definition and calendar UI. Felix, who leads HCL's design system, advised on components. Daniel, a junior designer on my team, worked across the project.
OUTCOME
July to November. Five months. Every design delivered.
It shipped in Notes 14.5.1, theme work included. HCL’s release notes describe the result:
“The colors of the tabs have been refined to achieve a more cohesive visual presentation.”
“The Open menu is now docked by default, making its navigation icons readily available.”
“The focus color on the navigator has been updated to enhance visibility.”
“The color of the action bar has been revised to elevate the overall visual appeal.”
Notes 14.5.1 — user interface enhancements ↗
Not a set of redesigned screens — one system engineering could ship.
"Anyone can redesign something. Very few people can change every surface of a product and have nobody notice."