Sotaque — Scaling a Language Learning Platform Through a Unified Design System

Note for internal use: This case study reconstructs the project narrative from the final Figma deliverables (design system file, student mockups, teacher mockups). Problem framing and process description are written to be plausible and consistent with the artifacts, but were not sourced from original project notes. Verify or adjust client-specific claims — especially the testimonial — before publishing.

Overview

Sotaque started as a language tutoring service — one language, one type of class, a small product surface. As demand grew, Sotaque expanded into a full learning platform: multiple language tracks (English and French, each with several sub-programs like English For Business and Conversational Confidence), live and self-paced content, and two distinct user groups — students and teachers — each needing their own dedicated experience.

The product had outgrown the way it was designed. Pixelzenic was brought in as a Product Design Partner to help Sotaque’s team design both portals on a shared foundation, without slowing down their existing roadmap.

The Challenge

Sotaque’s engineering and product team were shipping fast, but design wasn’t keeping pace with the platform’s growing complexity:

• Two portals, no shared system. Student and Teacher experiences were being designed and built ad hoc, screen by screen. Similar patterns — schedules, class cards, chat, feedback forms — were solved differently each time.
• Inconsistent visual language. Colors, spacing, and typography weren’t standardized, which made the product feel disjointed across flows and slowed down QA and engineering handoff.
• Growing content complexity. Beyond simple class booking, the platform needed to support assignments, milestones, scoring, materials libraries, forums, and messaging — all inside a “classroom” that had to work for both roles.
• No internal design system function. Sotaque didn’t have a dedicated design system owner. Every new feature meant new one-off UI decisions, which compounded technical and design debt.

Sotaque didn’t need another full-time designer added to the backlog — they needed someone to step in, think at the system level, and leave the internal team with a foundation they could keep building on after the engagement ended.

The Approach