Talk details

More and more design systems are born all across the world. There are countless step-by-step manuals, ready-to-use design kits, documentation tools, and experts to get you out the door. And still, so many design systems fail. What makes the difference between implementing a rigid, process-focused design system - and a living, thriving product your users love?

Our Chameleon Design System at GoTo is by far not the most extensive, polished, or even creative design system out there. But looking back, it grew exceptionally fast and achieved adoption across 12 product lines and 3 business units. Chameleon is thriving. And that’s not because of its well implemented design token-based foundations (and they are really well implemented) or our prioritization of accessibility (which is top of mind in everything we build). It is because of the relationship we have with our users. In this talk, I will share our experience of ensuring longevity and growing maturity of our design system through strong relationships, straight-forward contribution and support models, and tons of user research. Based on stories of failure and success, I will illustrate how even small teams can ensure their design system makes it to adulthood and stays around for good.

This talk is useful for everyone thinking about, building, or maintaining a design system – especially small design system teams or those struggling with adoption & maturing their design system. I'd also love for seasoned design system experts to chime in during the interactive parts and share their experiences.

Key take-aways

• How to balance the pressing hands-on work with building healthy relationships with your users

• How to drive adoption through advocates and contributors

• How to consistently grow and evolve the design system through empathy and passion

• How trust and relationships beat top-down mandates

• How to be okay with failure (and still get things done)