Schedule
September 20, 2023
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM EDT
Opening Remarks
Maria Eguiluz
When you look behind the curtain of your design system, what do you see? Documented components, accessible guidelines, manual processes, a shifting roadmap? When this becomes the status quo, it can trap your system in an endless cycle of maintenance. And that’s not fun for anyone. In this talk we’ll share the challenges Netflix has faced as we break away from this cycle, how we’ve modernized our approach to building at scale across Web, Mobile, and TV, and what this can unlock for you.
Breaking the Monotony of Maintenance
10:30 AM - 11:15 AM EDT
Break
11:15 AM - 11:25 AM EDT
Holding Your Boundaries in Design Systems: When Wearing Too Many Hats Hurts Your Head
11:25 AM - 11:50 AM EDT
Design teams are supposed to be scrappy! Everyone pitch in! Empathy for the other roles on your team! All of these are things I’ve preached and taught, but when is enough enough? In this talk, design system coach Dan Mall show you how to draw firm lines around your design system job so you can stand strong. You’ll learn why the most important word in a design system practice isn’t “component” or “token”; it’s “no”—and how to deal with when others can’t deal with that.
Break
11:50 AM - 12:00 PM EDT
12:00 PM - 12:25 PM EDT
The Design Tokens Community Group has been working towards a formal standardization about how tools expect tokens to be delivered. How might we enhance the format to transform tokens from static values to support dynamic needs? This talk introduces the idea of "token operations"; a recommendation for the DTCG specification to meet the needs of the most complex systems.
Token Operations
12:25 PM - 12:35 PM EDT
Break
Design System Showcase: Encore
12:35 PM - 1:00 PM EDT
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
Lunch
In our journey through design systems, it's become clear that for their success and upkeep, contributors need to range from developers to designers, content creators to stakeholders, and many more. But when the spotlight shines on ownership, who truly steers the ship? In this talk, I'll share with you the importance of shared stewardship, explore how the concept of ownership can both unite and separate our teams, and we'll uncover how we can cherish each voice and rethink 'ownership' for our teams.
Shared Stewardship: Navigating Ownership in Design Systems
2:00 PM - 2:25 PM EDT
Break
2:25 PM - 2:35 PM EDT
Design Systems Fictions: Exploring Speculative Design to Push Our System’s Boundaries
2:35 PM - 3:00 PM EDT
In this 25-minute talk, the boundaries of design systems will be pushed through the lens of a “soft” systems thinking approach. Taking inspiration from service design and speculative design, the focus is on envisioning the future and long-term objectives of design systems, surpassing the immediate requirements of digital product teams.
3:00 PM - 3:10 PM EDT
Break
The Rebel’s Guide to Design Systems: Why Industry ‘Best Practices’ Don’t Cut It
3:10 PM - 3:35 PM EDT
Top-tier design systems sure look like they’re the holy grail with their comprehensive documentation, community resources, and custom tooling… we should follow their lead, right? Don’t, it’s a trap. Let’s look at design system “best practices” that are downright harmful to your product development lifecycle when implemented by small-to-medium teams.
3:35 PM - 3:45 PM EDT
Closing Remarks
Maria Eguiluz
Schedule may change before event date