Design Systems Aren’t Hard

Design systems aren’t hard.
But they are complex.
And they’re also hard.

Design systems are often thought of in terms of the visible parts - a Sketch file, a repository of React code, a documentation website. But these are only the artifacts of the system. A design system is actually the thinking and the decision making and the principles of your organization. Producing the artifacts is the easy part - maintaining the institutional value of the design system is the hard part.

In this talk we’ll dive into the lessons I’ve learned during my time working on a large design system for a fast growing company. Hopefully we can help you avoid some of the common pitfalls and enjoy the quiet satisfaction of working on a design system so successful no one ever thinks twice about it.

Presented at:
WebOps.21

Full Slidedeck with Speaker Notes:
https://github.com/milsyobtaf/prez/blob/primary/2021/WebOps/design-systems-arent-hard-v2-webops-speaker-notes.pdf

Transcript

1. DUSTIN YOUNSE
   DESIGN SYSTEMS AREN’T HARD
   WEBOPS.21
   

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2. DUSTIN YOUNSE
   But they are complex.
   
   
   DESIGN SYSTEMS AREN’T HARD
   WEBOPS.21
   

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3. DUSTIN YOUNSE
   But they are complex.
   
   
   And also hard.
   DESIGN SYSTEMS AREN’T HARD
   WEBOPS.21
   

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4. ABOUT ME
   @milsyobtaf from the internet
   
   
   I’ve worked on large websites since 2008
   
   
   I’ve worked with “design systems” since we
   called them “swatches” or “style tiles”
   
   
   Currently in Design Engineering at Indeed,
   a job that comes with the best laptop
   sticker
   

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5. WHAT IS A DESIGN SYSTEM?
   

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7. Organizations which design systems …
   
   
   are constrained to produce designs
   
   
   which are copies of the
   
   
   communication structures of
   
   
   these organizations."
   CONWAY’S LAW
   

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8. Your website is a manifestation
   
   
   of your organization’s problems
   “UNCLE” DAVE RUPERT’S LAW
   

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10. WHAT ISN’T A DESIGN SYSTEM?
    

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11. A FIGMA LIBRARY
    

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12. WHAT ISN’T A DESIGN SYSTEM?
    

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13. A REACT COMPONENT LIBRARY
    

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14. WHAT ISN’T A DESIGN SYSTEM?
    

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15. AN EXTERNAL WEBSITE
    

    PROMOTING YOUR DESIGN SYSTEM
    

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16. THESE ARE ARTIFACTS - NOT THE SYSTEM
    

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17. SO… WHAT IS A DESIGN SYSTEM?
    

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18. AN AGREEMENT ON HOW
    

    DIGITAL PRODUCTS ARE MADE
    

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19. DESIGN SYSTEM AGREEMENTS
    User Interface Design: how a digital experience looks
    
    
    Interaction Design: how a digital experience feels
    
    
    Content Strategy: how a digital experience sounds
    
    
    Documentation: how a digital experience is crafted
    

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20. ⌛
    DESIGN SYSTEMS TAKE TIME
    

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22. ⌛💰
    DESIGN SYSTEMS TAKE TIME AND THEY TAKE MONEY
    

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23. WHY BOTHER WITH A DESIGN SYSTEM?
    

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24. DESIGN SYSTEMS ARE ALL ABOUT SCALE
    Interface Design at scale
    
    
    Interaction Building at scale
    
    
    Content Creation at scale
    

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25. DESIGN SYSTEMS ARE ALL ABOUT SCALE
    When everyone on your team knows how a thing should be built, they
    can just build it.
    

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26. DESIGN SYSTEMS ARE ALL ABOUT SCALE
    When everyone on your team knows how a thing should be built, they
    can just build it.
    
    
    #1 Support Request: How do I do X?
    

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27. DESIGN SYSTEMS ARE ALL ABOUT SCALE
    When everyone on your team knows how a thing should be built, they
    can just build it.
    
    
    #1 Support Request: How do I do X?
    
    
    #2 Support Request: Why do I do X?
    

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28. A DESIGN SYSTEM IS A SERVICE
    
    
    NOT A PRODUCT
    

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29. YOU NEED TO ANSWER QUESTIONS,
    

    NOT WRITE CODE,
    
    
    NOT PUSH PIXELS
    

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31. IF YOU ONLY HAVE THE TIME
    

    OR THE MONEY FOR ONE ARTIFACT,
    
    
    WRITE DOCUMENTATION
    

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32. DESIGN SYSTEMS HELP EVERYONE
    

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33. ACCESSIBILITY AT SCALE
    Buttons that work as buttons
    

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34. ACCESSIBILITY AT SCALE
    Buttons that work as buttons
    
    
    Links that work as links
    

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35. ACCESSIBILITY AT SCALE
    Buttons that work as buttons
    
    
    Links that work as links
    
    
    Animations that respect prefers-reduced-motion
    

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36. ACCESSIBILITY AT SCALE
    Buttons that work as buttons
    
    
    Links that work as links
    
    
    Animations that respect prefers-reduced-motion
    INCLUSION AT SCALE
    

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37. ACCESSIBILITY AT SCALE
    Buttons that work as buttons
    
    
    Links that work as links
    
    
    Animations that respect prefers-reduced-motion
    INCLUSION AT SCALE
    Form fields that accept accented characters
    

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38. ACCESSIBILITY AT SCALE
    Buttons that work as buttons
    
    
    Links that work as links
    
    
    Animations that respect prefers-reduced-motion
    INCLUSION AT SCALE
    Form fields that accept accented characters
    
    
    Right-to-left text presentation that just works
    

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39. IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE
    

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40. WRITE DOCUMENTATION
    

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41. DESIGN SYSTEMS ARE HARD
    
    
    

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42. DESIGN SYSTEMS ARE HARD
    
    
    AND THAT’S THE WORK
    

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43. - Conway’s Law / Uncle Dave's Law
    
    
    - Anatomy of a Design System
    
    
    - Design System Checklist
    
    
    - How the Right Design System
    Streamlines a Large Organization’s
    Digital Development
    RESOURCES
    

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