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

2.
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

3.
4:3

4.
88

5.
Unity being a family of ideas
with a distinctive character
held together by excellence…”
“
—Eliot Noyes, Design Director for IBM

6.
Uniformity being more about
following a consistent style like
being a military branch…”
—Eliot Noyes, Design Director for IBM
“

7.
22
IBM Plex™

8.
Express “man
and machine”
relationships
23

9.
24

10.
25
Natural
↳Expressive
Mechanical
↳Productive

11.
26

12.
Group Name / DOC ID / Month XX, 2017 / © 2017 IBM Corporation 27

13.
28

14.
…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

15.
Yourdesignsystemisonlyasstrong
asyourbrandvaluesandphilosophy.

16.
specialmoments!

17.
How might we…
Becomeacustomer-centric
DLSteamfocusedonbuilding
trustwithourcommunity?

18.
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

19.
Career Framework
Impact Execution Thinking
Mentorship Culture Communication
Leadership
Organizational
Development

20.
https://airbnb.design/systems-thinking-unlocked/

21.
Yourdesignsystemisonlyas
strongasyourrelationships
withteamswhouseit.

22.
Audience
people who use and
experience your products

23.
Environment
setting and conditions
in which users work

24.
Task
a piece of work
or a job to be done

25.
Domain
knowledge specific to a
specialized field of study

26.
Brand
values and expressions that
differentiate experiences

27.
Platform
technologies that underpin
the user experience

28.
Product
Journey
Flow
Pattern
Component
Element
On-stage
things we make
(or Brand)

29.
Audience
Environment
Task
Modality
Experience
Backstage
things we observe
Device

30.
Local Global

31.
Local Product Local Product Local Product
Local Product Local Product Local Product
Local Product Local Product Local Product

32.
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

33.
Yourdesignsystemisonlyas
strongasyourunderstanding
ofthecontextwhereitlives.

34.
Unity,notuniformity

35.
Philosophyfirst,systemssecond

36.
Relationshipsfirst,systemssecond

37.
Contextfirst,systemssecond

38.
One,two,one,two…

39.
Illustrator David MacCaulay
Thankyou!

40.
Let’s chat systems!
Tweet @hayhughes