OpenJS World

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.