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Episode 050, Design System Tooling Fragmentation
Held on March 27, 2025 with co host Luke Murphy.
We dove into the ever-more fragmented design system tooling space and talked about what's working for us, what's not, what's missing, and what we can do about it. You can review the Episode 050 Raw Data and the Episode 050 FigJam.
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Episode 049, Design System Decision Trees
Held on March 21, 2025 with co host Rebekah Wolf.
We dove into the variety of ways decision trees can be used in design system documentation and processes. You can review the Episode 049 Raw Data and the Episode 049 FigJam.
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Episode 048, Design System Discipline Bias
Held on March 7, 2025 with co host Carlos Báez.
We dove into the inevitable reality that bias creeps into every system and dscussed whether this is good or bad and how to prevent and leverage that bias. You can review the episode 048 raw data and the episode 048 FigJam.
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Episode 047, Multiple Design Systems
Held on February 27, 2025 with co host Mina Markham.
We dove into the challenges and opportunities that come with having multiple design systems. You can review the episode 047 raw data and the episode 047 FigJam.
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Episode 046, Vernacular Design Systems
Held on February 20, 2025 with co host Brian Alfaro.
We dove into the nuance of what makes a design system "feel" like it's local to your organization, culture, and brand. You can read Brian's "Vernacular Design Systems" article, review the episode 046 raw data and the episode 046 FigJam.
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Episode 045, Design System Example Applications
Held on February 13, 2025 with co host Doug Neiner.
We talked about the many ways design system teams are trying to stay closer to the work, including by building and maintaining their own example applications. You can review the episode 045 raw data and the episode 045 FigJam.
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Episode 044, Design Systems: Consumer Panel
Held on January 29, 2025 with co host Rebecca Garza-Bortman.
We invited a panel of design system consumers from various disciplines to come answer our questions. You can review the episode 044 raw data and the episode 044 FigJam.
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Episode 043, Design Systems: System of Systems
Held on January 23, 2025 with co host Jennie S Yip.
We discussed the pros and cons of a system of systems architecture in design systems. You can review the episode 043 raw data and the episode 043 FigJam.
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Episode 042, Design Systems: Design/Eng Collab
Held on January 16, 2025 with co host Shaun Bent.
We discussed the challenge of designer and developer collaboration and ways a design system team can model this for other parts of the organization. You can review the episode 042 raw data and the episode 042 FigJam.
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Episode 041, Design System Content Marketing
Held on January 10, 2025 with co host Taylor Cashdan.
We discussed the things we could learn from content marketers to create more engagement with our users. You can review the episode 041 raw data and the episode 041 FigJam.
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Episode 040, Web Components in Design Systems
Held on December 12, 2024 with co host Scott Jehl.
We discussed the ins and outs of web components in the context of a design system. You can review the episode 040 raw data and the episode 040 FigJam.
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Episode 039, Design Systems: Training Consuming Designers
Held on December 5, 2024 with co host Diane Larsen.
We discussed a variety of approaches to help product designers who are using our DS assets level up their "systeming" skills so they can take full advantage of the system. You can review the episode 039 raw data and the episode 039 FigJam.
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Episode 038, Design Systems: Stability Through Change
Held on November 14, 2024 with co host Marianne Ashton-Booth.
We discussed the speed at which organizations are changing and ways to create sustainable impact through that change with a design system program. You can review the episode 038 raw data and the episode 038 FigJam.
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Episode 037, Design Systems: Designer/Developer Hybrids
Held on November 7, 2024 with co host Caroline Horn.
We discussed the role designer/developer hybrids play in the world of design systems and the pros and cons of having these talented folks on your team. You can review the episode 037 raw data and the episode 037 FigJam.
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Episode 036, Design Systems: Offering Composition
Held on October 31, 2024 with co host Dan Mall.
We discussed the pros and cons of offering more composed experiences with a design system. You can review the episode 036 raw data and the episode 036 FigJam.
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Episode 035, Design Systems: What to Work On
Held on October 25, 2024 with co host Elyse Holladay.
We discussed the challenges of staying focused on the right priorities as your design system matures. You can review the Episode 035 raw data, the Episode 035 FigJam, and the Episode 035 wrap-up article.
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Episode 034, Design System Consumer Panel
Held on October 17, 2024 with co host Rebecca Garza-Bortman.
We invited a small panel of design system consumers to answer a few hard questions about the work we're doing as design system practitioners. You can review the episode 034 raw data and the episode 034 FigJam.
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Episode 033, Design Systems: More with Less
Held on September 19, 2024 with co host Maya Hampton.
We explored the challenges and opportunities that come with shrinking design system teams and the expectation that we take on more responsibility and complexity. You can review the episode 033 raw data and the episode 033 FigJam.
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Episode 032, Design System Token Architecture Planning
Held on September 12, 2024 with co host Donnie D'Amato.
We explored the approaches and resulting challenges of implementing design tokens in a design sytem. You can review the episode 032 raw data and the episode 032 FigJam.
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Episode 031, Design System Micro-Adoption
Held on September 6, 2024 with co host Davy Fung.
We dove into the very deep rabbit hole of design system micro-adoption. You can review the episode 031 FigJam (which contains the raw data, gathered in real time) and read the episode 031 wrap up.
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Episode 030, Design System a11y Impact
Held on August 29, 2024 with co host Geri Reid.
We dove into the ways folks are measuring the accessibility of their products, their design system assets, and the adoption of their system. You can review the episode 030 raw data and the episode 030 FigJam.
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Episode 029, Design System Lessons Learned
Held on August 22, 2024 with co host Adekunle Oduye.
We shared some common failures we've experienced and discussed the lessons we've learned from those failures. Lots of good practical shifts in mindset here! You can review the episode 029 raw data and the episode 029 FigJam.
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Episode 028, Design System Rapid Fire AMA
Held on August 14, 2024 with co host Jina Anne.
This time you got to ask the questions of Jina! We talked Clarity, tokens, burnout, and a lot more. You can review the episode 028 raw data and the episode 028 FigJam.
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Episode 027, Design System User Research
Held on August 2, 2024 with co host Ron Graham.
We dove into the various methods teams are using to explore the needs of their users and the perceived success of their systems. You can review the episode 027 raw data and the episode 027 FigJam.
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Episode 026, Pitching Design Systems
Held on July 15, 2024.
We explored the need to sell design systems differently depending on who you're pitching to and discovered some interesting data around what design system benefits are important to various parts of an organization. You can review the episode 026 raw data and the episode 026 FigJam.
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Episode 025, Design System Shearing Layers
Held on July 18, 2024 with co host Jeremy Elder.
We explored the challenges that surface when you focus system efforts on enabling product teams to move at a faster pace than the system itself. You can review the episode 025 raw data, the episode 025 FigJam, and read the episode 025 wrap up.
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Episode 024, Design System Trends
Held on July 11, 2024 with co host Edward Liu.
We looked for trends in the product mindset, design maturity, and design system maturity of an organization. You can review the episode 024 raw data and the episode 024 FigJam.
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Episode 023, Design System Parity
Held on May 30, 2024 with co host Nathan Curtis.
We discussed how much parity is needed between the assets of a design system and the tools and processes we've found useful in maintaining that parity. You can review the episode 023 raw data and the episode 023 FigJam.
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Episode 022, Design System Failures
Held on May 23, 2024 with co host Dan Donald.
We discussed the many reasons design system can fail and how to protect our systems from this. You can review the episode 022 raw data and the episode 022 FigJam.
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Episode 021, Design System Emotional Labor
Held on May 17, 2024 with co host Guy Segal.
We discussed the emotional and mental challenges inherent in design system work. You can review the episode 021 raw data and the episode 021 FigJam.
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Episode 020, Design System OKRs
Held on May 9, 2024 with co host Tarunya Varma.
We discussed how and why to establish solid design system OKRs. You can review the episode 020 raw data and the episode 020 FigJam.
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Episode 019, Design System Prioritization
Held on April 26, 2024 with co host Elyse Holladay.
We discussed the methods design system teams are finding useful to priotize the right work at the right time. You can review the episode 019 raw data.
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Episode 018, Design System Deviation
Held on April 19, 2024 with co host Robin Di Capua.
We discussed how to prevent and deal with deviation in design systems. You can review the episode 018 raw data and the episode 018 FigJam.
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Episode 017, Design System Product Management
Held on April 11, 2024 with co host Niamh Hoey.
We discussed the critical role of a design system product manager and how this differs from a traditional product manager role. You can review the episode 017 raw data and the episode 017 FigJam.
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Episode 016, Design System Advocacy
Held on April 5, 2024 with co host Amy Lee.
We discussed the challenge of building internal advocacy for a design system. You can review the episode 016 raw data and the episode 016 FigJam.
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Episode 015, Design System Decision Making
Held on March 21, 2024 with co host Erin Potter.
We discussed getting consensus vs getting commitment in design system work. You can review the episode 015 raw data and the episode 015 FigJam.
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Episode 014, Design System Accessibility
Held on March 14, 2024 with co host Daniel Henderson-Ede.
We discussed how working toward more accessible components can allow a design system to enable more accessible products. You can review the episode 014 raw data and the episode 014 FigJam.
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Episode 013, Design System Component Process
Held on March 8, 2024 with co host Ness Grixti.
We discussed the design system component design and development process. You can review the episode 013 raw data and the episode 013 FigJam.
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Episode 012, Design System Content Design
Held on February 12, 2024 with co host Erin White.
We discussed the level of influence content design does or doesn't have in our design systems. You can review the episode 012 raw data and the episode 012 FigJam.
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Episode 011, A Global Design System
Held on February 15, 2024 with co host Brad Frost.
We discussed the concept of a global design system. You can review the episode 011 raw data and the episode 011 FigJam.
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Episode 010, Design System Standards
Held on February 9, 2024 with co host Kristi Bryden.
We discussed how design systems do our don't clarify and distribute standards across our organizations. You can review the episode 010 raw data and the episode 010 FigJam.
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Episode 009, Design System Adoption
Held on January 25, 2024 with co host Noelle Lansford.
We discussed strategies for driving and tracking design system adoption. You can review the episode 009 raw data and the episode 009 FigJam.
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Episode 008, Design System Tooling
Held on January 18, 2024 with co host Jina Anne.
We discussed the landscape of tools design system teams are using to further their work and shared success and failure stories related to those tools. You can review the Episode 008 raw data, the the Episode 008 FigJam, and read the Episode 008 wrap up.
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Episode 007, Multi-Platform Design Systems
Held on December 21, 2023 with co host Jesse Gardener.
We discussed approaches for creating design systems that can robustly support products designed and built across multiple platforms. You can review the episode 007 raw data, the episode 007 FigJam, and read the episode 007 wrap up.
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Episode 006, Design System Contribution
Held on December 14, 2023 with co host Ness Grixti.
We discussed the difficulty of creating a healthy culture of contribution back into a design system and considered ways to shift our thinking about what contribution should look like. You can review the episode 006 raw data, the episode 006 FigJam, and read the episode 006 wrap up.
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Episode 005, Design System Rule Breakers
Held on December 7, 2023 with co host Dan Mall.
We discussed how to create change in an organization by breaking the rules. You can review the episode 005 raw data, the episode 005 FigJam, and read the episode 005 wrap up.
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Episode 004, Design System Communication Strategies
Held on November 30, 2023 with co host Molly Covert.
We discussed a variety of approaches to a healthy design system communication strategy. You can watch the episode 004 recording on The Question's YouTube Channel, review the episode 004 raw data, the episode 004 FigJam, and read the episode 004 wrap up.
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Episode 003, Design System Team Size and Makeup
Held on November 16, 2023 with co host Jarvis Moore.
We discussed the variety of team sizes and structures present in the design system space. You can watch the episode 003 recording on The Question's YouTube Channel, review the episode 003 raw data, the episode 003 FigJam, and read the episode 003 wrap up.
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Episode 002, Design Systems: Inside Out vs Outside In
Held on November 9, 2023.
We discussed how to start a design system, from the outside in (beginning with larger experiences) or from the inside out (starting with foundations). You can watch the episode 002 recording on The Question's YouTube Channel, review the episode 002 raw data, the episode 002 FigJam, and read the episode 002 wrap up.
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Episode 001, System Designers vs Product Designers
Held on November 2, 2023 with co host Michelle Walton.
This episode of The Question is sponsored by zeroheight and Sparkbox.
We discussed the difference between System Designers and Product designers and talked about the characteristics that serve each best. You can watch the episode 1 recording on The Question's YouTube Channel, review the episode 1 raw data, the episode 1 FigJam, and read the episode 1 wrap up.