Meet the team

Being able to utilize the same components throughout different applications is what I love about design systems. I believe it can be a powerful tool to keep consistency, especially in regards to accessibility. I also love the challenges that a design system brings, along with the rewards for the developers that utilize it.

I've learned a ton from my colleagues in the past. Stephen, Kyle, Michael, John, Trevor, and so many others. I'm also a big fan of Adrian Roselli, Sara Soueidan, Marcy Sutton, and all the others who helped me gain more insights into accessibility as a whole.

VS Code, NVDA, GitHub, CodePen, my notebook

Since the beginning of my software career I have heard the common phrase "Don't repeat yourself" or DRY programming as some people might know it. In following this practice I found myself designing React components to be reused. This interest in reusable code paired with my fascination with design and usability led me to design systems.

Most of the influential inspiration has been from my co-workers at each of the places I have worked at over the years. The amount of information that I have collectively gained from them is incalculable.

In the accessibility space I have learned quite a bit from Derek Featherstone. Orienting your mind to look through a lens of more inclusive design has changed my perspective on both design and engineering.

My favorite design system podcast over the years has been designsystemspodcast. Not only do they have really interesting takes on different companies navigating the design system space, but they are good at giving useful information that can be directly applied to your own organization.

VSCode, GitHub, Figma, Spotify, Daily Dev

As a product designer I always focused on creating a consistent experience. When I started as a designer, this meant building style guides and meticulously checking every screen before it was shipped. Over time this turned into design systems with coded components, design tokens, patterns and guidelines.

I learned one of my most valuable lesson from Michael Beirut who is so modest and open about his mistakes. This helped me realise that being vulnerable is a strength that accelerates personal growth. James Clear, with his book “atomic habits” taught me that achieving big goals is done by taking one small step after another. I have also learned much from my friends and colleagues. I find that everybody has something to teach if you are willing to learn.

VS Code, Figma, GitHub, Notion, Spotify, Raycast, Fig

Design systems help ensure rock-solid, accessible patterns get distributed and updated at scale. This is vital to help ensuring digital experiences such as GitHub are usable by all.

Too many to name here. The digital accessibility space is full of kind, intelligent, passionate people, and I owe much of my growth and career to their collective knowledge.

Figma, VS Code, Slack, VoiceOver, NVDA, Dropbox Paper, Obsidian, and copious amounts of iced coffee.

It naturally occurred while working on startup projects with limited resources, striving to enhance our productivity while avoiding repeated activities and inconsistent UI. Learning about OOCSS, SMACSS, or BEM methodologies pushed and drew me in the direction of a system thinking strategy.

From all the co-workers and friends I’ve been lucky to work with: Hayk An, Victoria Nikitina, Daniel Guillan, Javier Sanchez, and from all of the folks who share their knowledge in the design and development space: Lea Verou, Harry Roberts, Sara Soueidan, Benjamin de Cock, and Brent Jackson to name a few.

VS Code, Notes, Figma, GitHub, Vercel, Spotify

As an agency developer early in my career, it seemed we were always building the same UI with different styles. So why not build once, with enough flexibility to customize for many clients?

Later, it became clear to me that systems could boost the end user's experience through more than speed to production; systems multiply consistency, usability, and accessibility. And who doesn't want a top-notch, inclusive user experience which the makers can ship more quickly?

We stand on the shoulders of giants. I deeply appreciate the former colleagues who have helped me learn and grow, all of the folks who write and speak in the design systems space, and the work of management leaders like Lara Hogan, Camille Fournier, Sarah Drasner, and Caree Youngman.

The playful, innovative work of my friend Charlie Gerard never fails to inspire and remind me what humans in tech are capable of creating.

VS Code, React, CSS, axe Accessibility Linter, Netlify, and a big mug

I get so much joy from writing HTML and CSS, and design systems are one level up - systematically making UIs accessible and consistent. I love concentrating on the tiny things like button states so product folk can build the big picture, knowing that the details are taken care of.

Chris Coyier's CSS-Tricks was a hugely important resource for me when I was first learning how to make websites, and the community on CodePen is an endless source of inspiration.

VS Code, DevTools, Figma, Notion, Field Notes, earl grey

I first learned about design systems through the work of Joseph Müller-Brockmann, Massimo Vignelli, and Otl Aicher. I was fascinated by their principles, the patterns they developed, the modularity of their approach, and the abstractions they established. All that gave me an entirely new perspective and understanding of design. I later connected these learnings to my work while scaling user interfaces on startups and larger organizations.

I've been very fortunate to learn and work with many inspiring designers, engineers, and product people over the last few years. Aitor, Anna, Javi, Miguel, and Ricardo, to name just a few. Also, I've learned a lot about design, process, thinking, and strategy from Oliver Reichenstein and Ryan Singer, and code from Nicolas Gallagher, Harry Roberts, and Lea Verou.

Obsidian, iA Writer, Lamy 2000, Framer, VS Code, Next.js, Vercel, Raycast, coffee, rum

Through pure frustration of “there has to be a better way”, I wandered into the world of design systems and it just clicked! Found so many talented folks who worked on the intersection of design and development roles (used to be called "hybrids", but that might be out of fashion). Bought into the idea of defining a common language for designers and developers, still chasing that dream :)

People I have worked with over the years ♥️ and the people I’ve looked up to — Nicole Sullivan, Jina Anne, Jacob Thornton, Brent Jackson, Sunil Pai, Sarah Drasner, Addy Osmani and my sister!

Devtools, Figma, iA Writer, GitHub, CodeSandbox, Hyper, Vercel, Kap, Muji pens!

Being part of a few startups I've always noticed that engineers quickly outgrew designers and when this happened it was hard to keep up as a designer. Small obvious design patterns would often need clarification because they weren't clear. System thinking has always reduced this problem and allowed us to move quickly without compromising on quality.

Co-workers have always played a crucial part in growing into system thinking. Working as a designer on a design tool in the past I was also lucky to chat to endless of big companies trying to set up design systems as well.

React, XCode, Figma, GitHub, Atom and 4pm biscuits

I was frustrated by all of the inconsistent UI, duplicated work, and redundant meetings that my teams would have to deal with. I finally found a discipline where I could use my design skills and my engineering skills to solve meaty problems without being limited to a traditional design or engineering role.

Working on a design system with Adam Detrick was invaluable and taught me so much. I'm also humbled and inspired by the work of David DeSandro, Lynn Hershman, Rachel Andrew, and Wei Huang.

VS Code, Zsh, CSS, React, Adobe Illustrator, pen and paper, Microsoft To Do, Chrome Inspector

Technology and design being considered at odds is a recent invention. Design systems are just the way I think, so building bridges between design and engineering is at the heart of much of my work.

I am fortunate to say that the list of people who have taught and inspired me is long. I am full of gratitude for the people who take the time and energy to teach, build tools for collaboration, and run communities that lift people up.

Sublime Text, React, Pencil and Paper, Figma, GitHub, coffee

I like it when things around me are organized. I like writing, and the process of refining an idea into words. I like guidelines, style guides, patterns, HTML, and CSS. I like to have several projects on at once. I like planning. I like to work smart, not hard. When you add all of these you get… design systems!

More than anything, the people I’ve worked with over the years. I learned something from everyone: being generous with my knowledge, being serious about research, work discipline, balancing family life and work, speaking up, picking my battles, and everything good that I know. Also: the conversations and connections I made during the early years of Design Twitter — still going strong.

Too many! Things, Simplenote, iA Writer, Dictionary, VS Code, xScope, notebooks, Pinboard, Overcast, spreadsheets, and Earl Grey.

While studying computer science, I developed a passion for design patterns and abstractions. I especially enjoyed learning about programming languages and automata theory. I'm excited about the potential to apply what I've learned to create strong visual languages. I also enjoy building tools that make it easier for designers and developers (like me) to create better user experiences.

Too many to list! I would not be in this field if it weren't for my mom, who introduced me to HTML, CSS and JavaScript at a young age. Tom Falkner, Ben Waldron, Tyler Deitz, Tony Gines, Brett Spradling, Jake Swenson and Sam Ng have all been incredible mentors. And I'm constantly inspired by the work of Brent Jackson, Adam Morse, James, Max Stoiber, Brian Lovin, Bryn Jackson, Steve Schoger, Sara Soueidan, Dan Abramov and so many more.

CodeSandbox, Figma, GitHub, React, Slack, VS Code

I was initially drawn to design systems while working on a small team, where we were stretched thin and struggling to keep the front-end and user experience afloat, recreating components and patterns by hand over and over again. We needed consistency, stability, a bridge between designers and developers, and a more efficient workflow. Once we put a design language and system in place, I was sold on the value. I find it fascinating how many approaches to design systems there are out there, and how different they can be depending on the individual product and teams’ needs.

Inge Druckrey and Edward Tufte inspired me to get into design, and introduced me to the world of typographic and informational systems (simultaneously). This talk by Bret Victor helped me feel less alone when I was starting out in the industry; at a time when code and design weren't yet openly intertwined. I’m also inspired by the folks behind designbetter.co for making knowledge around design systems transparent and available to everyone. Additionally, and there are too many people to name, people like Una Kravetz, Sarah Drasner, Tim Holman, and Val Head are always on my radar, keeping the internet weird and creative and continuously pushing the boundaries of what's possible.

Atom, Figma, Bear, Dash, Slack

I was drawn to design systems for many reasons—the opportunity to improve design and development workflow efficiency; the potential benefits well-design systems can bring to the user experience; I like to bring order to chaos and enjoy working at the intersection of design and code. I also love that there is still so much to learn in the field and really enjoy the passion of the community behind design systems.

I don't have room on this webpage to list everyone! SMACSS, The Art and Science of CSS, and Veerle Pieters were some early influences. OOCSS by Nicole Sullivan, CSS Wizardary, Basscss, Tachyons, and BEM influenced my approach to CSS architecture. More recently I've been inspired by Rune Madsen's Programming Design Systems, Compositor, Dan Abramov, Sebastian Markbage, and so many design and code wonder women like Mandy Kerr, Marcy Sutton, Lea Verou, Mina Markham, Sarah Drasner and Jina Anne.

Hyper, Atom, Figma, MDN, and Quip

Being able to focus on the key elements of design, form, color and typography.

Having an education in industrial design, the Bauhaus design philosophy and Dieter Rams inspired me a lot. Everything I know about digital product design I learned at Wunderlist, whose design team was very inspiring.

Remarkable tablet, Figma, Origami, Glyphs, GitHubs internal color tool

A few years back, I was an apprentice for a freelance product designer and my main responsibility was to document his designs and help his customers understand how to continue on with our designs. I loved extracting patterns and spending time writing documentation so every chance I had at any job after that I either participated or initiated the design systems efforts.

I'll start with a lesson from a book. Mark Manson helped me stop looking for shortcuts. Javier Cañada pushed me to think about design outside technology and be inspired by history, literature, philosophy... Sasha Prokhorova taught me that design is not just about craft. She made me a better professional along with some others who I consider my mentors like David la Iglesia, Adrian Mato or Emily Hayman. From Yaili I learned to love design systems documentation and how to show others the value of it. Then Nathan Curtis content became the manual on how to write and present documentation. Yesenia helped me see how design systems can be functional, effective and still convey a brand's personality. The most important lesson, be it design or human level is that communities help us grow and learn from one another. This is why I'm so inspired by people like Jina, Mina, Diana or Stu who are passionate thought leaders doing so much for the design and development industry. Also Zendaya. What a great time to be alive!

Figma, Things, SPREADSHEETS!, Notion, Emojis, Moleskine journals and Fujifilm X-H1.

I love organization and lists. I have a lists for things from movies to boba tea orders. I like to bring this into my design work as well, creating components and cohesiveness across platforms to make it easier for people to create great products.

When I first began learning about design, I was inspired by the people who contributed back to the community by teaching and opening up to students. Resources like Students Who Design and Design Details helped me figure out how I wanted to make a positive impact in tech.

More recently, I've been inspired by design agencies and companies that are testing the boundaries of design outside of what is accepted as 'common pratice'. I enjoy seeing unique animation and motion used to convey information, emotion, and storytelling.

Sketch, Figma, Atom, Dropbox Paper, Twitter, Ping Pong, Ukulele

I came into design systems very organically. When I began my career in the agency world, I worked within constraints of branding and style guidelines of our various clients. At the time I didn't fully recognize these guidelines as what we now refer to as design systems. As my career continued to grow I noticed that I began to be far more interested in how various companies/brands packaged the many pieces that made up their brand and/or products. I love how design systems bring together all the pieces in order to unleash endless creativity but still maintain the necessary constraints.

I get a lot of my inspiration from the community I've built via Dribbble. A few of my favorites are the dynamic duo that makes of TheLittleLabs, Camilo and Aradhana, the illustration work by Enisaurus, and Kendrick Kidd.

When I first started my career, Frank Chimero was a huge inspiration. His book, The Shape of Design, really helped to form my philosophy and approach to problems and how to cultivate a design process. Along with that but not design related, Jason Fried has been a great inspiration to how I approach work. His book (written alongside David Heinemeier Hansson) Rework still is the best, no nonsense, business book I've ever read.

Figma, Atom, Keynote, Bear Notes, Spark Mail, Spotify

I worked in data visualization and map-making for most of my career, and solving design problems with data is my jam. To me there's something uniquely exciting about making a thing that can take complicated and/or unexpected input and, with no human intervention, reduce it to something visually comprehensible—and hopefully interesting!

Anyone who has ever contributed to A List Apart or posted to the webdesign-l mailing list between 1999 and 2005. The CSS Zen Garden was hugely inspirational for me, along with web standards pioneers like Eric Meyer, Mark Pilgrim, and Jeff Zeldman. Jina is one of the hardest-working people in design systems, and her leadership in the community is a tremendous inspiration. I learned everything I know about SVG from Sara Soueidan, and everything I could hope to know about CSS Grid from Rachel Andrew and Jen Simmons. If you want to learn about web components, follow Monica Dinculescu and Mu-An Chiou.

Vim, Things, Chrome DevTools, curl