This document discusses the importance of unity rather than uniformity in design systems. It provides several quotes highlighting this idea: (1) A design system should have a distinctive character held together by excellence, rather than strict following of style. (2) Understanding the context and relationships is more important than the system itself. (3) Philosophy and understanding user needs should come before creating the system. The document emphasizes that strong design systems are based on brand values, understanding audiences and contexts, and relationships between teams.

1. Unity,notuniformity
withdesignsystems
Hayley Hughes, UX Manager at Shopify

3. We thought that we could control
systems. We found out we can’t.
But we can dance with them!”
“
—Donella Meadows, Author of Thinking in Systems: A Primer

5. 4:3

6. 88

7. Unity being a family of ideas
with a distinctive character
held together by excellence…”
“
—Eliot Noyes, Design Director for IBM

8. Uniformity being more about
following a consistent style like
being a military branch…”
—Eliot Noyes, Design Director for IBM
“

22. 22
IBM Plex™

23. Express “man
and machine”
relationships
23

24. 24

25. 25
Natural
↳Expressive
Mechanical
↳Productive

26. 26

27. Group Name / DOC ID / Month XX, 2017 / © 2017 IBM Corporation 27

28. 28

29. …Codify what it means to create a
product that feels like your company.
What decisions would your company
make that other companies wouldn’t?”
“
—Yesenia Perez-Cruz, Author of Expressive Design Systems

30. Yourdesignsystemisonlyasstrong
asyourbrandvaluesandphilosophy.

35. specialmoments!

36. How might we…
Becomeacustomer-centric
DLSteamfocusedonbuilding
trustwithourcommunity?

40. Being a part of UXP Partners has been the
single most effective change brought to the
design language system in a year and a half.”
“
— Anonymous, Product designer surveyed at Airbnb

41. Career Framework
Impact Execution Thinking
Mentorship Culture Communication
Leadership
Organizational
Development

42. https://airbnb.design/systems-thinking-unlocked/

44. Yourdesignsystemisonlyas
strongasyourrelationships
withteamswhouseit.

53. Audience
people who use and
experience your products

54. Environment
setting and conditions
in which users work

55. Task
a piece of work
or a job to be done

56. Domain
knowledge specific to a
specialized field of study

57. Brand
values and expressions that
differentiate experiences

58. Platform
technologies that underpin
the user experience

61. Product
Journey
Flow
Pattern
Component
Element
On-stage
things we make
(or Brand)

62. Audience
Environment
Task
Modality
Experience
Backstage
things we observe
Device

64. Local Global

67. Local Product Local Product Local Product
Local Product Local Product Local Product
Local Product Local Product Local Product

70. Always design a thing by considering it in
its next larger context—a chair in a room,
a room in a house, a house in an environment,
an environment in a city plan.”
“
—Eliel Saarinen, Architect

71. Yourdesignsystemisonlyas
strongasyourunderstanding
ofthecontextwhereitlives.

72. Unity,notuniformity

73. Philosophyfirst,systemssecond

74. Relationshipsfirst,systemssecond

75. Contextfirst,systemssecond

76. One,two,one,two…

77. Illustrator David MacCaulay
Thankyou!

78. Let’s chat systems!
Tweet @hayhughes