What’s Keeping Design Systems People Up At Night? Design Systems WTF podcast

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Favorite Grown-Up Moments from Season 3 40:54

13 weeks ago40:54

40:54

Taxes, Voting, Recycling—oh my! After navigating this jungle of grown-up responsibilities together, we're taking a quick summer breather to recharge our adulting batteries. But before we temporarily hang up our responsible pants, join us for this special episode packed with our favorite kernels of wisdom from the season so far AND get an exclusive preview of the fresh adulting adventures awaiting you when Grown-Up Stuff returns in late summer! Think of this episode as your adulting victory lap—complete with confetti and zero paperwork required! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

Design Systems WTF « »
What’s keeping design systems people up at night?

about a year ago 33:21

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Content provided by zeroheight. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by zeroheight or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.

In this episode, we answer some interesting design system questions from the Internet. With Luke away, Dave, our Developer Advocate, will joins Michelle. Sharing insights from a developer and designer perspective, respectively. Will Dave and Michelle see eye to eye or will we agree to disagree?

… continue reading

39 episodes

#Tech #Entrepreneur #Business #Zeroheight #Design #DesignOps #Atomic Design #Government #Contribution Models #Styleguide #Pattern Libraries #SuperNova #Knapsack

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What’s keeping design systems people up at night?

Design Systems WTF

published about a year ago

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MP3•Episode home

Content provided by zeroheight. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by zeroheight or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.

In this episode, we answer some interesting design system questions from the Internet. With Luke away, Dave, our Developer Advocate, will joins Michelle. Sharing insights from a developer and designer perspective, respectively. Will Dave and Michelle see eye to eye or will we agree to disagree?

… continue reading

39 episodes

#Tech #Entrepreneur #Business #Zeroheight #Design #DesignOps #Atomic Design #Government #Contribution Models #Styleguide #Pattern Libraries #SuperNova #Knapsack

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1
Can you actually measure the ROI of a component? 24:19

10 weeks ago24:19

24:19

Selling the value of your design system to folks who don't necessarily understand it is a difficult and thankless task. But are we trying to sell in the right things? Is it possible to put the value of our design system against the bottom line, and how far down the stack can we go? Can we actually put a dollar sign against a single component?…

1
Should designers know how to code? 29:45

12 weeks ago29:45

29:45

The age old question – should designers know how to code? Or more specifically, how much should designer know when it comes to code? Considering it's the medium that we're designing for, it's still surprising how much this topic splits opinion. Luke and special guest Rob Whitfield will dive into the pros and cons, and give some practical advice if you did want to delve into the witchcraft that engineers do.…

1
Are accessibility guidelines enough to be inclusive? 25:28

14 weeks ago25:28

25:28

Making your design system as inclusive as possible is something that I think we all agree on. However, for most systems teams, this means creating some accessibility guidelines and then ticking it off the list. Is this enough? Is there more we can be doing?

1
Are design systems a dead end? 31:22

16 weeks ago31:22

31:22

Inspired by Luke's article on the death of design systems, Michelle and Luke dive into whether design systems have a future... are we at a natural point of evolution or are design systems going to go the way of the dinosaurs?

1
How big is too big for a design system? 27:26

18 weeks ago27:26

27:26

How big is too big? Is there a point where your design system just becomes unwieldy? Luke and Michelle dive into this question from a previous episode, and try and figure out how you keep your design system to a manageable size. Or is that just a nice problem to have, and we should embracing our systems to grow to the size they need to be?…

1
When is OK to snowflake? 25:44

20 weeks ago25:44

25:44

Detach instance is a concept that has stuck fear into the hearts of design systems folks since the beginning. However, there are definitely instances where it’s totally ok to snowflake components! How should you deal with snowflakes in your system? How does this play into your overall view on flexibility, and can you actually use snowflakes as a way to determine what you should be working on?…

1
How much is too much documentation? 27:01

25 weeks ago27:01

27:01

Sometimes we may feel the urge to include everything in our documentation, to the point where it rivals Lord of the Rings for length and density. However, we may be doing ourselves a disservice! How much is too much documentation? How much is not enough documentation? Do we even need documentation at all? join us for the last Design Systems WTF of the year!…

1
Where should design systems sit in your org? 29:41

27 weeks ago29:41

29:41

Design systems should sit in the design team. Design systems should sit in the designops team. Design systems should sit in their own team. There are so many different options that are presented as the ‘truth’ when it comes to design systems and org design. Michelle and Luke are going to wade through the options, weigh up their merits and probably tear the entire thing down to the ground by the end of the half hour.…

1
Should we get rid of infinite scroll? 27:41

29 weeks ago27:41

27:41

Infinite scroll was designed to enhance the UX for browsing search results, but now it's often used to keep users endlessly engaged on social media. As concerns grow about its impact on mental health, especially among young people, it's time to reconsider its place in design systems. What responsibilities do we have as creators when our components contribute to these issues? In this episode, we’ll examine the ethical considerations of infinite scroll and other components, exploring how we can design more responsibly and promote healthier user experiences.…

1
Do design systems make teams go faster? 29:11

31 weeks ago29:11

29:11

Design systems are often hailed as the ultimate productivity boosters for devs and designers alike, but do they really deliver on that promise? We’ll explore whether design systems genuinely make teams more efficient or if they just add another layer of complexity. Tune in for a reality check on the true impact of design systems on team performance!…

1
Why isn’t contribution the answer? 28:59

34 weeks ago28:59

28:59

Contribution often seems like the perfect solution for scaling design systems, but is it really? We'll weigh the tough realities of managing contributions and why a federated system might not suit everyone. We'll explore the hurdles of contribution and how to decide if it's the right path for your team.…

1
Live from Converge 2025: When should we be using AI? 26:48

35 weeks ago26:48

26:48

Luke and Michelle come to you direct from Converge to talk about AI (again). Is there a place for AI in our design systems?

1
Why aren’t people contributing to the design system? 30:12

41 weeks ago30:12

30:12

If you're struggling to get contributions to your design system, you might think it’s a governance issue. But it might not be the real issue. In this episode, we'll consider why people aren't contributing and examine factors beyond governance that might be preventing contributions. We’ll discuss the motivations and barriers that impact participation and how to foster a thriving contributor community.…

1
Where can AI actually help with design systems? 27:18

42 weeks ago27:18

27:18

We're cutting through the AI hype and getting to the good stuff—practical ways AI can supercharge your design system. From streamlining workflows to generating documentation, we'll explore real-world applications of AI that can make your life easier. Plus, we’ll guide you through creating a custom GPT to assist with your design system needs. Are you leveraging AI to its full potential, or are you stuck in the buzzword bubble? Join us for insights and strategies to make AI work for you!…

1
Live from Hatch: Do we need to stop making components? 41:08

42 weeks ago41:08

41:08

In this episode, we’re challenging the status quo of design systems by questioning the necessity of components. Are we too focused on building and maintaining a library of components when we should be thinking bigger? What if our obsession with components is actually holding back innovation? Join us as we explore whether it’s time to shift our attention away from components and consider new ways to build flexibility, scalability, and creativity into our design systems.…

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