Empowering
designers to code
Diana Mounter
@broccolini
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Product Designer &
Design Systems Lead
GitHub
!
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Git is not GitHub
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Git is
a free and open source distributed
version control system
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GitHub is
a collaboration platform built on top
of Git, where you can host and share
code
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GitHub is
a collaboration platform built on top
of Git, where you can host and share
code
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Design Systems
Goal: to build a robust, composable,
and flexible system, that works across
platforms and context, providing
guidance on visual language, voice and
tone, and implementation.
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…but right now
We’re mostly focussed on improving
our CSS style guide. !
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“it’s all relative” - @jsavalle
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Learning to code is
a journey
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www
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Setup dev
environment?
Git commit what?!
How to push O_o
Where is all the code?
How to run tests?
www
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HTML & CSS
prototypes
Contributes
to production
Contributes
to style guide
Builds tools
for others
Fixes CSS bugs
Refactors
front-end code
Improves
performance
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HTML & CSS
prototypes
Contributes
to production
Contributes
to style guide
Builds tools
for others
Fixes CSS bugs
Refactors
front-end code
Improves
performance
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Style guides are a gateway
drug for empowering
designers to code
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Style guides for
designers
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What makes a style guide
good for designers?
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What makes a style guide
good for designers?
1. Highly reusable and flexible styles
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What makes a style guide
good for designers?
1. Highly reusable and flexible styles
2. A clear and consistent naming convention
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What makes a style guide
good for designers?
1. Highly reusable and flexible styles
2. A clear and consistent naming convention
3. Up-to-date and well written documentation
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1.Highly reusable and
flexible styles
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1.Highly reusable and
flexible styles
Styles that can be mixed and
matched to achieve many different
layouts, independent of their
location.
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Components
Frequently used patterns.
!
!
!
x
x
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!
Layout objects
Common layout patterns.
The media object
Grid systems
♥
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!
Layout objects
Common layout patterns.
The media object
Grid systems
♥
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!
Layout objects
Common layout patterns.
The media object
Grid systems
♥
2.A clear and consistent
naming convention
• Make it easy to understand what styles are
being applied
• Follow a consistent pattern
• Promote reuse of styles
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// Do
.btn-orange {…}
.alert-error {…}
// Don’t
.homepage-cta-button {…}
.registration-form-error {…}
Use presentational or functional names
rather than location-specific
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// Do
.btn-orange {…} // Presentational
.alert-error {…}
Use presentational or functional names
rather than location-specific
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// Do
.btn-orange {…}
.alert-error {…} // Functional
Use presentational or functional names
rather than location-specific
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// Do
.btn-primary {…} // Functional
.alert-red {…} // Presentational
Use presentational or functional names
rather than location-specific
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Choose what’s right for
your team.
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“The most reusable components are those
with class names that are independent of
the content.”
- Nicolas Gallagher, About HTML semantics and
front-end architecture
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3.Up-to-date & well-written
documentation
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3.Up-to-date & well-written
documentation
• Explain how to use styles with production code
examples
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• Name
• Description
• Example
• Code snippet
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No content
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CSS
Style guide
documentation
Production
website
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3.Up-to-date & well-written
documentation
• Explain how to use styles with production code
examples
• Keep documentation regularly updated
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Show the status of styles, such as:
experimental, stable, or deprecated
Examples from: Salesforce Lightning Design System
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• Use routine events as a reminder to make updates
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• Use routine events as a reminder to make updates
• Make it part of your code review checklist
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• Use routine events as a reminder to make updates
• Make it part of your code review checklist
• Make it easy for everyone to contribute
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CSS
Style guide
documentation
Production
website
Markdown docs
GitHub.com
repo
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No content
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3.Up-to-date & well-written
documentation
• Explain how to use styles with production code
examples
• Keep documentation regularly updated
• Include principles and coding guidelines that
explain the CSS behind the styles
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Teach people the what, the how
and the why, so they’ll become
champions of your style guide.
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Most importantly…
A style guide should rarely
require you to write new CSS.
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Designing in the browser
can be productive and fun!
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Designers need a safe
way to practice with
production code.
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Prototyping tools
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Prototyping tools
✓ pulls in the style guide
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Prototyping tools
✓ pulls in the style guide
✓ can share a URL to the prototype
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Prototyping tools
✓ pulls in the style guide
✓ can share a URL to the prototype
✓ is tracked in Git
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Prototyping tools
✓ pulls in the style guide
✓ can share a URL to the prototype
✓ is tracked in Git
✓ allows you to write custom JavaScript or CSS
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Prototyping tools
✓ pulls in the style guide
✓ can share a URL to the prototype
✓ is tracked in Git
✓ allows you to write custom JavaScript or CSS
✓ includes a simple templating language
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HTML & CSS
prototypes
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Contributes
to production
Contributes
to style guide
Builds tools
for others
Fixes CSS bugs
Refactors
front-end code
Improves
performance
HTML & CSS
prototypes
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The issues with CSS
that affect designers
are often problems for
everyone else too.
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What makes a style guide
good for designers everyone?
1. Highly reusable and flexible styles
2. A clear and consistent naming convention
3. Up-to-date and well written documentation
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Building style guides
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1. Write down your principles
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Sure!
You’re gonna make it OOCSS/
functional/atomic/BEM right?
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When you actually see the code.
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Lots of arguments
vibrant discussions
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Principle led development!
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2. Design for systems
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Spacing scales
Use highly composable numbers, such as
16 or 12. Not 10.
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16 breaks down
8 8
4 4
4 4
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
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16 breaks down, and adds up to whole
numbers more easily.
32 32
32 32
32 32
32 32
64 64
64 64
128 128
64
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Type scales
Type scales based on powers of two often
end up in more sensible numbers.
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- Brent Jackson, Mathematical Web Typography
Type scales based on powers of two
often end up in more sensible numbers.
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3. Evaluate decisions based on
user needs
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What’s important for your
naming convention?
• Searchablity
• Clarity
• Scannability
• Intention
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Treat your style guide
like a product.
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Style guides are design
tools for the web.
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• Reduce barriers
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• Reduce barriers
• Improve workflows
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• Reduce barriers
• Improve workflows
• Build a better user experience
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• Reduce barriers
• Improve workflows
• Build a better user experience
• Empower designers to code