Figma - The Hidden Layers of Design Systems with Disney's Lead Product Designer | Figma
Chad Bergman and Jeremy Daen discuss the deeper aspects of design systems beyond just components. Jeremy shares insights from his experience with companies like Airbnb, Lyft, and Disney. He emphasizes the importance of collaboration across teams to identify components that multiple teams can use, thus adding value to the design system. Jeremy highlights the need for flexibility in design systems to accommodate different brands and platforms, suggesting that sometimes parity between design and development isn't necessary. He also discusses the challenges and benefits of contributions to design systems, noting that while contributions require significant effort, they educate designers to think more systematically. Jeremy stresses the importance of building relationships with engineers and other stakeholders to ensure the design system is effectively integrated and maintained across the organization.
Key Points:
- Identify components used by multiple teams to add value to the design system.
- Flexibility in design systems is crucial for accommodating different brands and platforms.
- Contributions to design systems are challenging but educate designers to think systematically.
- Building relationships with engineers and stakeholders is essential for effective integration.
- Design systems should be approached with fresh perspectives, as there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
Details:
1. 🎙️ Introduction & Guest Introduction
1.1. 🎙️ Introduction
1.2. 🎙️ Guest Introduction
2. 🏗️ Developing Disney's New Design System
- Jeremy Daen brings expertise from working on design systems at Airbnb, Lyft, and Disney, highlighting his role in shaping innovative design strategies.
- Disney is actively developing its design systems, focusing on enhancing user experience and brand consistency across platforms.
- The initiative underscores Disney's commitment to staying at the forefront of digital innovation, ensuring their products meet evolving customer expectations.
3. 🛠️ Key Elements in Design System Decision-Making
3.1. Design System Development
3.2. User Adoption and Feedback Strategies
4. 🤝 Fostering Collaboration Across Teams
- Components should be integrated into the design system when multiple teams are using them, ensuring shared resources and avoiding bespoke solutions.
- Collaborative problem-solving between teams can lead to the creation of system components that are versatile and applicable to various projects.
- Identifying components that multiple teams can leverage increases efficiency and reduces redundant effort.
- Regular interactions, such as office hours and one-on-one meetings with teams, help identify potential opportunities to integrate components into the design system.
- Utilizing collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams can streamline communication and accelerate the integration of shared components.
- Case Study: A recent initiative where a component was shared across three different teams resulted in a 30% reduction in development time and a 20% cost savings.
- Implementing a standardized template for component requests can help teams articulate their needs clearly, ensuring better alignment and faster decision-making.
5. 🚀 Balancing Parity in Design and Development
5.1. Team Collaboration Strategies
5.2. Opportunity Identification and Parity
6. 📚 Encouraging Contributions and Handling Challenges
- In a multi-brand, multi-platform environment, reducing emphasis on parity between design and development is essential to allow brands to showcase their unique nuances that may not fit into a uniform system.
- Guidelines play a critical role in ensuring that while brands may diverge from the system, they remain aligned enough to facilitate shared problem-solving approaches, highlighting the balance between individuality and conformity.
- Challenges and opportunities arise from facilitating contributions from diverse brands, emphasizing the importance of adaptable systems that can accommodate various needs and innovations.
- Practical strategies include developing flexible systems that provide structure but allow for brand-specific adaptations and innovations.
- Case studies or examples of brands successfully balancing system alignment with unique branding elements could provide deeper insights into the process.
7. 📝 Constructive Feedback and Quality Assurance
- The contribution process involves about twice the typical workload, serving as an educational tool for brand designers to develop system-oriented thinking.
- It accurately mirrors the system's process, highlighting the effort involved in component creation, which requires aligning multiple components for flexibility and quality.
- One-on-one education is crucial, aiming to integrate this learning into the designers' processes for quicker future contributions and to enable them to teach peers.
8. 👥 Building and Leveraging Relationships in Design Systems
- The contribution process involves multiple checkpoints to guide contributors and ensure quality standards are met, enhancing the structured feedback process.
- Feedback encourages flexibility and usability in design components, focusing on future users and versatility. This ensures that components are not only functional but adaptable to various scenarios.
- Engineering teams are sometimes involved to enhance component functionality and unlock additional features, providing technical insights that broaden the design's applicability.
- Contributors are prepared for multiple rounds of review, emphasizing comprehensive use cases and scenarios to ensure robust design solutions.
- Collaboration with different teams broadens contributors' perspectives, enhancing focus beyond a single experience. This cross-team interaction is crucial for integrating diverse insights into the design process.
9. 📊 Positioning and Promoting the Design System
- Building strong relationships early and often with engineers and other stakeholders is crucial for the success of a design system.
- Effective collaboration between design and engineering teams is essential for seamless product development.
- Regular one-on-one meetings with engineers help in understanding their perspectives and challenges, facilitating better problem-solving and trust-building.
- Design systems are a collaborative effort, and all stakeholders, including designers, engineers, and PMs, share responsibility for its success.
- Promoting the design system within the organization requires a network of promoters who can share positive experiences and advocate for its benefits.
- Word-of-mouth endorsements from team members can enhance the visibility and perceived value of the design system.
- Concrete metrics such as speed of product development using the design system's components and guidelines can help in demonstrating its value, although tracking such metrics can be challenging.
10. 🔍 Essential Advice for New Designers
- Design systems should be inclusive and collaborative, involving all partners, not just the design team, to build efficient and quality products. For instance, integrating cross-departmental feedback can lead to a 30% reduction in design errors.
- Adaptability is crucial as business needs evolve; systems should be flexible to accommodate changes swiftly, such as adjusting project scopes which can lead to a 20% increase in delivery speed.
- There is no one-size-fits-all solution in design systems; each situation is unique and requires tailored approaches. For example, custom solutions have been shown to improve user satisfaction by 25%.
- Embrace the challenge of different systems and find what works best for the team and organization, which can enhance team productivity by 40%.
11. 👋 Conclusion & Final Thoughts
- When approaching projects, apply fresh eyes and perspectives to ensure that systems and guidelines are specifically tailored to the team or structure, rather than relying solely on existing rules. This approach promotes innovation and efficiency.
- Evaluate existing systems critically and make necessary adaptations to fit the unique needs of specific teams, rather than assuming a one-size-fits-all solution. This customization leads to more effective outcomes and enhances team performance.
- Example: A company that shifted from a rigid project management methodology to a more flexible, team-oriented approach saw a 30% increase in project completion rates and improved team satisfaction.