Drew has spent the better part of the last two years leading the charge on launching and managing the global design system at AIG. Learn some of the battle-tested tips, tricks, and methods gained during the process including how to:
- Manage contribution and intake
- Manage “snowflake” vs system components
- Support multiple brands with a single system
- Track and measure the ROI of your system
- Perpetuate buy-in
Bio
Drew Burdick is a multi-faceted design leader with over a decade of experience. He founded and led a creative agency, led top accounts at Red Ventures, and most recently helped to transform product design at AIG by leading a team to establish their global design system. He is now a leader with the Experience Design practice at Slalom, helping to drive client engagements in the Charlotte market.
4. “…An adaptable system of guidelines, components, and tools
that support the best practices of user interface design. [It]
streamlines collaboration between designers and developers,
and helps teams quickly build beautiful products.”
Google
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I TALKED WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE
TO UNDERSTAND THE CURRENT STATE
Also,
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• 2000+ digital products with decades of tech debt
• Siloed teams & IT “fiefdoms”
• Brand guidelines with limited digital coverage
• Numerous tools, tech stacks, pattern libraries,
style guides, etc, etc.
RESULTS
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• Current ecosystem
• Key players
• Competing priorities
• “Most successful” products & why
UNDERSTAND
FIRST I SOUGHT TO
🕵
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• A design language from most successful products
• Potential collaborators from across disciplines
• A possible proof of concept
DEFINED
THEN I
📝
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• To improve utilization & efficiency
• To elevate customer experience through
visual consistency
• To reduce friction throughout entire
product development process
PURPOSE
HINGE’S
🎯
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• Always put users first
• Approachable innovation
• Add value, not noise
PRINCIPLES
HINGE’S GUIDING
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• From 6 months to 3 sprints
• Smooth hand-off to development
• Faster QA & visual hardening
• Enabled team to focus on improving
user experience
VALIC MOBILE
PROOF OF CONCEPT
📱
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PRODUCT
TREAT IT LIKE A
• Establish a clear vision
• Give it a name & identity
• Define an accountable product owner
• Develop a roadmap with major milestones that
align with the priorities of your organization
🗺
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SMALL
START
• Focus on one product at a time
• Focus on one team at a time
• Focus on one component at a time
⚙
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SOCIALIZING
ALWAYS BE
• Go on a roadshow
• Know your audience & speak their language
• Top down, bottom up
• Regularly highlight success stories
• Show how the system fits within the ecosystem
🤝
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MAKE IT CLEAR
THE SYSTEM IS NOT
• Comprehensive or finished
• Meant to replace strategic design, research or testing
ROADSHOW WARNING
⚠
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CONNECTIVE
TISSUE
CREATE
• Get others involved early
• Have cross-functional representation
• Link up with others who are doing the same thing
• Include your users in the decision-making process
(designers, developers, product, etc.)
🔗
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EARLY
& OFTEN
COMMUNICATE
• People don’t like surprises
• Make sure your key stakeholders and users are aware of
upcoming changes well in advance
• Be transparent with your roadmap & backlog
📣
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CARROT
LEAD WITH A
• Don’t mandate rules
• Focus on driving as much value for teams as possible by
helping make their lives easier
🥕
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THINGS TO
CONSIDER
SNOWFLAKES
• Does this component already exist in the system?
• Can a related component be used instead?
• Can this component be generalized so that other
products may benefit from it?
⛄
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MULTIPLE
BRANDS
ONE SYSTEM
• A “system of systems” with a common skeleton &
well defined brand variables
• Include only what is reusable across all brands
• Define & implement a clear process for how to
create & maintain a child system from the parent
• Invest heavily in onboarding & training teams on
how to maintain the child system
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BRAND
VARIABLES
DEFINING
• Color (e.g. shades, tints, etc.)
• Type (e.g. font family, size, weight, line height, etc.)
• Standard UI elements (e.g. inputs, buttons, etc.)
• Elevation (e.g. shadows)
• Icons & illustrations
• Imagery
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Survey & interview end users to understand
perceived impact on quality before & after (e.g.
usability, consistency, readability, etc.)
QUALITY
QUALITATIVE IMPACT
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• Story points per sprint
• Time spent per user story
• Time spent in design
• Time spent in development
• Time in QA
• And more…
EFFICIENCY
QUANTITATIVE IMPACT
66. TAKEAWAYS
A FEW KEY
• Have a clear north star
• Always be socializing
• Focus on people over process
• Lead with a carrot, not a stick
67. RESOURCES
A FEW GREAT
• news.design.systems
• design.systems/slack
• designbetter.co/design-systems-handbook
• designsystemfoundations.com
• designsystemssurvey.seesparkbox.com