Design Systems Podcast

Knapsack

Design Systems Podcast interviews industry leaders and product makers to share best practices and explore the areas where design and development come together. read less
TechnologyTechnology

Episodes

123. Adoption, Efficiency, and Value: insights from KickstartDS’s Jonas Ulrich and Daniel Ley
26-11-2024
123. Adoption, Efficiency, and Value: insights from KickstartDS’s Jonas Ulrich and Daniel Ley
Send us feedback or episode suggestions.In this episode, Chris talks with Daniel Ley and Jonas Ulrich from KickstartDS, a framework designed to simplify design system creation and drive meaningful adoption. They dive deep into what adoption really means, moving beyond metrics like component coverage to focus on efficiency, team morale, and an iterative approach. Drawing on real-world examples like UNICEF Germany, they share how effective adoption strategies can reduce complexity, speed up delivery, and maximize impact. Tune in to learn how to measure and represent adoption in ways that truly reflect your design system's value!View the transcript of this episode.Check out our upcoming events.If you want to get in touch with the show, ask some questions, or tell us what you think, send us a message over on LinkedIn.GuestsJonas Ulrich and Daniel Ley are the founders of kickstartDS and owners of ruhmesmeile, a consultancy specializing in design systems and headless CMS. After over 15 years of experience developing websites and UIs as a traditional online agency, they sought to improve how teams work on web frontends. This vision led them to establish kickstartDS as a corporate venture in 2021, providing an open source meta framework for design system creation.HostChris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.SponsorSponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.
122. Creating Cohesion from Chaos: The Role of Language and System Design with Ben Callahan
12-11-2024
122. Creating Cohesion from Chaos: The Role of Language and System Design with Ben Callahan
Send us feedback or episode suggestions.Language shapes the way we think and structure the world we build. On this episode of The Design Systems Podcast, Chris Strahl sits down with Ben Callahan, co-founder of Sparkbox, to explore the critical role of language and communication in team dynamics, problem-solving, and system structures. Ben shares insights on how linguistic choices shape product creation and drive organization-wide cohesion. He argues that while common ground is essential, design systems should balance order with controlled "quenched disorder" to foster innovation, using flexible, layered structures that adapt to unique team needs and create scalable, culturally embedded solutions. Listen to the full episode to gain a deeper understanding of the intricate relationship between language, design systems, and organizational culture, as well as practical insights on fostering system adoption and cross-team collaboration.View the transcript of this episode.Check out our upcoming events.GuestBen Callahan is a developer, designer, and founder of Sparkbox, known for his engaging presentations, workshops, and his interactive series The Question. With a passion for sharing knowledge, Ben uses his journey to inspire others, bridging the gap between technical insights and the human challenges within design and development.HostChris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.SponsorSponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.
119. Rethinking Design Consistency: Debating Tokens vs. Components with ADPs Alice Preisler
01-10-2024
119. Rethinking Design Consistency: Debating Tokens vs. Components with ADPs Alice Preisler
Send us feedback or episode suggestions.Are components a necessary part of a design system? In this episode of The Design Systems Podcast, Alice Preisler, the Product Owner of Design System at ADP challenges the idea that all design systems start with a component library. Alice and host, Chris Strahl discuss what starting with documentation and design tokens instead of components might do for a design system and product teams. Alice shares her vision of using a linting tool to enforce design consistency to create a cohesive user experience. Tune in for fun thought experiments and pragmatic insights on fostering creativity within constraints, and the role of documentation and tooling for faster, consistent product development.View the transcript of this episode.Check out our upcoming events.GuestAlice Preisler leads the development of ADP's enterprise design system to cover all technical platforms (web, iOS, Android, ATM) across unique customer-facing brands. Alice leads highly visible, complex and customer driven products, projects, programs, and portfolios. She excels managing stakeholders, bringing the right resources into complex global projects to ensure successful execution. HostChris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.SponsorSponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.
118. Reusability, Collaboration, and Empathy: Catalina Manea on Bridging Design and Development to Build Applications with Design Systems"
17-09-2024
118. Reusability, Collaboration, and Empathy: Catalina Manea on Bridging Design and Development to Build Applications with Design Systems"
Send us feedback or episode suggestions.On today's episode of the Design Systems Podcast, we hear from Catalina Manea, Senior Designer at Spelunk, about the crucial intersection of design and development. Catalina shares her journey from graphic design to product and systems design, providing insights into the importance of reusability, cross-functional collaboration, and empathy in building scalable and adaptable design systems. Catalina emphasizes that design systems go beyond UI and consistency—they are powerful tools for enhancing teamwork and agility in fast-paced environments.View the transcript of this episode.Check out our upcoming events.GuestCatalina Manea has been a system designer since the early stages of her career as a product designer, working with both emerging and established design systems. She has collaborated with cross-functional teams to launch new systems from scratch and has contributed to refining and evolving well-established ones across multiple industries. Throughout Catalina’s career, she has enjoyed mentoring junior designers and sharing insights at industry conferences.HostChris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.SponsorSponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.
116 - Designed for success: How Guy Segal Built a Design System that Product Teams Want to Use.
20-08-2024
116 - Designed for success: How Guy Segal Built a Design System that Product Teams Want to Use.
Send us feedback or episode suggestions.In this episode of The Design Systems Podcast, Chris Strahl welcomes Guy Segal, the director of digital ecosystem and design systems at Thomson Reuters. Guy shares his experience of building a design system that serves over 150+ brands and the importance of having a point of view when you are working to bring both quality and consistency to a large portfolio of products. From design system missionaries to trojan horses to carrots and sticks, Guy and Chris talk about how to gain the buy-in you need to build a design system product teams will want to use.View the transcript of this episode.Check out our upcoming events.GuestGuy Segal is a design leader with over 25 years of experience in the tech industry, specializing in UX, product design, and DesignOps. Leveraging his passion for design leadership and people management, he has a proven track record of fostering innovation and collaboration within design teams, establishing and nurturing design practices, and leading teams to success. Guy's expertise extends to various domains, including product, UX, and service design, as well as a strong background in web and UI development. In recent years, he has been focusing extensively on design systems, establishing and growing teams around the practice, and launching systems that optimize efficiency and enhance user experiences. Beyond his professional endeavors, Guy is an avid enthusiast of board games, food, and movies, welcoming conversations on diverse topics that extend beyond the realm of design.Guy’s Design Downtime podcast: http://designdowntime.com/HostChris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.SponsorSponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.
111 -  How AI is Revolutionizing Design Systems and Customer Experiences with Dave Calleja
12-06-2024
111 - How AI is Revolutionizing Design Systems and Customer Experiences with Dave Calleja
Send us feedback or episode suggestions.Chris Strahl welcomes Dave Calleja back to the podcast to discuss the changing nature of design systems, integrating AI into the human creative process, and how to use behavior data for real-time design adaptations. Dave shares his views on the importance of design systems to customer experiences and how modern tools help scale personalized experiences that align with brand vision. Tune in to discover how the future of design systems is being shaped by AI, automation, and personalized content.View the transcript of this episode.Check out our upcoming events.GuestDave leads the design practice at Merkle and dentsu in Australia-New Zealand as well as their Design Systems offering globally. He is deeply passionate about the role design plays creating in exceptional, memorable and transformative customer experiences. Right now, he’s focused on helping teams deliver a clear experience vision to every moment in the customer journey. You can connect with Dave on LinkedIn.HostChris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.SponsorSponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.TranscriptChris Strahl [00:00:00]:Hi, and welcome to the Design Systems podcast. This podcast is about the place where design and development overlap. We talk with experts to get their point of view about trends in design code and how it relates to the world around us. As always, this podcast is brought to you by Knapsack. Check us out at knapsack.cloud. If you want to get in touch with the show, ask some questions, or generally tell us what you think, go ahead and tweet us at thedspod. We'd love to hear from you. Hey, everyone.Chris Strahl [00:00:22]:Welcome to the design Systems podcast. I'm your host, Chris Strahl. Today I'm here with a repeat guest, Dave Calleja. Dave, it's so great to have you back. I know you're in the midst of a little bit of career reorganization, so why don't you talk about what you're doing these days?Dave Calleja [00:00:36]:Thanks, Chris. Really excited to be here again and really looking forward to the conversation. So my role has changed a bit since we last spoke. I'm responsible for experience design across Dentsu and Merkel in AnZ, and I'm also really excited to be leading our global design systems capability across Merkel.Chris Strahl [00:00:53]:Well, hey, it's great to have you back. It's been a long time coming. You were actually reminding me before the show that we used to record these asynchronously, like, with a ton of different software and everything like that. And, like, it's actually a different world of podcasting now that you've returned, so eager to have you back on, get kind of an update. And also, you know, one of the things that sparked this conversation was a post about the use of AI in design systems, and so I'm stoked to talk about it.Dave Calleja [00:01:18]:Yeah, likewise. You know, the world is changing so much faster since we last spoke. Like, we've
109. Making Design Systems Inclusive with Accessibility Specialist Daniel Henderson-Ede
14-05-2024
109. Making Design Systems Inclusive with Accessibility Specialist Daniel Henderson-Ede
Send us feedback or episode suggestions.Welcome to another episode of The Design Systems Podcast! In honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we're thrilled to have Daniel Henderson-Ede, an accessibility specialist, here to discuss the need for and challenges of making inclusive design experiences for those with disabilities, and how design systems can help. Daniel shares why and how accessibility considerations should influence every decision in design systems to create better, more inclusive products. We get into the importance of theme management, and the latest updates in accessibility standards. Join us as we navigate the critical intersections of design, accessibility, and system thinking to shed light on how we can enhance user experiences on a grand scale.View the transcript for this episode Check out our upcoming events.GuestDaniel Henderson-Ede (he/him) is an Accessibility Designer for design systems at Pinterest. He loves working alongside designers, engineers, and leaders to advocate for accessibility at scale, with the aim of creating equitable experiences for disabled users. He has also previously used his design system knowledge to publish a collection of accessibility annotation kits whilst at CVS Health.HostChris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.SponsorSponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.
108. U.S. Bank’s Beau Ulrey on Building Trust Through Design Systems
30-04-2024
108. U.S. Bank’s Beau Ulrey on Building Trust Through Design Systems
Send us feedback or episode suggestions.On this episode of the Design Systems Podcast, we're thrilled to have Beau Ulrey, the Design System Manager at U.S. Bank, join host Chris Strahl live at the Kiln space in Portland. Today’s episode deep dives into the intricate world where design meets development. Beau will share his fascinating journey from a design and photography background to becoming a pioneer in interaction design at IBM, and his current influential role at U.S. Bank. Beau and Chris discuss the vital role design systems play in building customer trust through consistency, and how U.S. Bank’s design system is tailored to meet diverse customer needs across various platforms. We’ll also unpack the complexities of design codes and the transformative impact of well-integrated design systems in the banking industry.View the transcript of this episode.Check out our upcoming events.GuestBeau Ulrey leads and manages the Shield Design System team at U.S. Bank. He's passionate about using empathy and good design to help people reach their goals. Whether working as a designer, coach or manager, his goal is to uncover what people need to create better experiences and tools. He writes about design systems and product design practices on Medium (@beauulrey) and talks them as well from time to time.When away from the screen, Beau can be found hiking in the PNW, splashing in the Pacific with his kiddos and toting his camera along the way.HostChris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.SponsorSponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.
107. The Evolution of IBM's Carbon Design System with Scott Strubberg
16-04-2024
107. The Evolution of IBM's Carbon Design System with Scott Strubberg
Send us feedback or episode suggestions.Join host Chris Strahl as he welcomes our guest Scott Strubberg to the Design Systems Podcast. Scott is a product manager and a key figure behind IBM's Carbon Design System. Today’s conversation unravels the complexities and innovations of integrating brand consistency across digital and physical realms. Chris and Scott explore how feedback and community contributions shape the system's evolution, and delve into IBM's unique "brand first" approach. Tune in to discover the strenuous yet rewarding process of managing design systems at scale and the significant role of community and partnerships in driving a design system forward. View the transcript of this episode.Check out our upcoming events.GuestScott Strubberg is a Product Manager, Front-end developer, Designer, and Educator. Though his career has taken many forms over the years, a common thread of connecting technology to the people who need it has always been present. He spends most of his day rallying designers and developers around a common cause. When he’s not doing that, he’s a full-time parent along with his wife and their three boys.HostChris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.SponsorSponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.
106. Brad Frost on Adaptable Design Systems
02-04-2024
106. Brad Frost on Adaptable Design Systems
Send us feedback or episode suggestions.We sit down with Brad Frost, a leading voice in design systems. Together, we explore the critical intersection between adaptable design systems and brand identities, unveiling the secrets to creating components that not only function seamlessly across platforms but also resonate with diverse brand aesthetics. Listen in as we discuss the layers of a successful design system, from global frameworks to the 'recipes' that define specific use cases, and highlight the importance of industry-wide component standardization. This thought-provoking conversation with Brad Frost promises to elevate your approach to design systems.View the transcript of this episode.Check out our upcoming events.GuestBrad Frost is a design system consultant, front-end developer, speaker, writer, musician, and artist located in beautiful Pittsburgh, PA. As a principal and design system consultant at Big Medium, he helps teams establish and evolve design systems, establish more collaborative workflows, and create better software together.. He is the author of the book Atomic Design, which introduces a methodology to create and maintain effective design systems. He co-hosted the Style Guides Podcast and has helped create several tools and resources for web designers, including Pattern Lab, Styleguides.io, Style Guide Guide, This Is Responsive, Death to Bullshit, and more.HostChris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.SponsorSponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.
105. Ranjeet Tayi from Informatica: AI-Driven Design
19-03-2024
105. Ranjeet Tayi from Informatica: AI-Driven Design
Send us feedback or episode suggestions.Informatica's design and AI director, Ranjeet Tayi doing us on the Design Systems Podcast to discuss AI's transformative impact on design systems, elucidating the shift from static products to dynamic, personalized AI-driven experiences. Chris and Ranjeet navigate through the intricacies of AI's influence on crafting hyper-personalized interfaces, the burgeoning role of predictive analytics in UIs, and the ascendance of voice and text as forefronts of design. The discussion extends to the integration of AI in chatbots, the pivotal role of open-source tools, and the breakthroughs in creativity AI has facilitated in areas like movie and music production. Furthermore, we probe into the indispensable role of design systems in fostering cohesive components, enhancing personalized branding, and amplifying user engagement through continuous learning. Our conversation culminates by highlighting the convergence of AI and design, underlining the significance of structured data, ethical considerations, and AI's capability to redefine the software development lifecycle.View the transcript of this episode.Check out our upcoming events.GuestRanjeet Tayi, Director of AI Experience at Informatica, brings 18+ years of UX and AI leadership, advocating GOOD DATA & GOOD DESIGN. Worked at SumTotal, PURE IT Usability Research, and co-founding Mind Visions, he holds 5 patents and is an extraordinary recipient, with a background in Philosophy in Mass Communication & Design Management. Recognized as a speaker, author, and design awards judge, Ranjeet actively serves on non-profit boards & design councils.HostChris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.SponsorSponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.
104. Shawn Cheris from Adobe: Spectrum 2 Design System and AI’s Role in the Future of Design
12-03-2024
104. Shawn Cheris from Adobe: Spectrum 2 Design System and AI’s Role in the Future of Design
Send us feedback or episode suggestions.Chris and Shawn explore how design tools shape final products, emphasizing the crucial role of managing elements like forms and tables. Shawn shares insights on uniting Adobe departments for greater cohesion and how Spectrum 2 reflects organizational change. They discuss AI integration in design interfaces, drawing parallels with Apple's iPhone design evolution, highlighting AI's potential to revolutionize user experiences. Hear about intricacies of translating visual designs into functional code and maintaining brand consistency across product suites. They reflect on the challenges and excitement of problem-solving iterations, the evolution of design systems, and aligning brand with user experience.View the transcript of this episode.Check out our upcoming events.GuestAs a Senior Director of Experience Design at Adobe, Shawn Cheris runs Spectrum—an organization responsible for the overall brand and experience of all Adobe products—with teams focused on design systems, brand, iconography, content strategy, engineering, prototyping, and more. Outside of work, Shawn is also a father and husband and enjoys building (physical) things, photography, making music, cooking, baking, and a million other hobbies he wishes he had more time for. HostChris Strahl is co-founder and CEO of Knapsack, host of @TheDSPod, DnD DM, and occasional river guide. You can find Chris on Twitter as @chrisstrahl and on LinkedIn.SponsorSponsored by Knapsack, the design system platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.