A presentation at Microsoft Reactor Sydney in in Sydney NSW, Australia by Inayaili León
5 things that aren’t true about design systems @yaili Microsoft Reactor, Sydney, October 2019
Photo by Rick Mason on Unsplash
Photo by mlhradio on Flickr
Photo by Milivoj Kuhar on Unsplash
Untruth #1 “Everyone loves and understands our work.”
Untruth #1 “Everyone loves and understands our work.” “Some people hate us, and many don’t know what we’re trying to do.”
#1 “Everyone loves and understands our work.” “Material?”
#1 “Everyone loves and understands our work.” Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash
#1 “Everyone loves and understands our work.” Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash
Untruth #2 “Our documentation is always up to date.”
Untruth #2 “Our documentation is always up to date.” “We don’t always have time to document things.”
#2 “Our documentation is always up to date.” Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
#2 “Our documentation is always up to date.” Buster Keaton in “The General”, 1926. GIF from r/silentmoviegifs
#2 “Our documentation is always up to date.” Photo by Filip Bunkens on Unsplash
#2 “Our documentation is always up to date.” Usage Do • Keep the content of a card related to a • • • • • Example Usage Anatomy Developer guidance API single concept • Keep content inside cards aligned, even in cases where dividers extend to the edge of the card • Avoid scrolling inside cards; rely on scrolling of the parent container instead • Avoid placing a card on a background lighter than $neutral-2 Don’t N E M I C E P S • Place cards within cards • Include many calls to action within a single card • Use card to replace similar components, such as dialog
Untruth #3 “Everyone works together in harmony.”
Untruth #3 “Everyone works together in harmony.” “We block each other all the time.”
#3 “Everyone works together in harmony.”
#3 “Everyone works together in harmony.” Photo by Luke Brugger on Unsplash
Untruth #4 “No one ever needs custom components.”
Untruth #4 “No one ever needs custom components.” “Someone needs a custom component every day.”
#4 “No one ever needs custom components.” Photo by Brendan Church on Unsplash
#4 “No one ever needs custom components.” Seinfeld, “The Soup Nazi”, 1995
#4 “No one ever needs custom components.” Photo by Vidar Nordli-Mathisen on Unsplash
#4 “No one ever needs custom components.” Photo by DorkyMum on Flickr
Untruth #5 “We validate everything.”
Untruth #5 “We validate everything.” “Most times we push to the system without testing.”
#5 “We validate everything.” Photo by Kai Pilger on Unsplash
#5 “We validate everything.” Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
#5 “We validate everything.” Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
#5 “We validate everything.” Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash
(I’m nearly done!)
Thank you! @yaili, references bit.ly/reactor-sydney
We’re surrounded by beautiful, well-documented design systems. Each new site that is launched seems to be better than the rest. But, when you look at your own system, things aren’t so perfect and it’s hard to imagine that they ever will. Don’t be fooled by the picture-perfect design systems you see everywhere!
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