Posts Tagged ‘process’

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  1. 01 Feb, 2024

    The Gulf Between Design and Engineering / Design Systems International

    The most crucial mistake in the collaboration between designers and engineers happens when we conflate this division of tools with a need for a strong division of labor. Treating design and engineering as two completely separate processes leads to an […]

  2. 23 Oct, 2023

    Ship Faster by Building Design Systems Slower | Big Medium

    Here’s my partner Josh Clark with an absolute barn-burner of an article: Ship Faster by Building Design Systems Slower. In our work at Big Medium, we’ve guided dozens of design system teams who have felt the stress of being perceived as […]

  3. 21 Sep, 2023

    The Design System Ecosystem

    What does a mature, end-to-end design system look like in a big, complex organization? What are all the moving pieces, and how do they hang together as a well-considered architecture? What’s required and what’s optional? Hold onto your butts, because […]

  4. 27 Jun, 2023

    No Handoff: close the gap between product and engineering

    I love this initiative from Shamsi Brinn: No Handoff: close the gap between product and engineering. Imagine a project where teams work together at each stage, progressively improving the end result based on qualitative and quantitative data. Project handoff is […]

  5. 27 Jun, 2023

    “Artificial Intelligence & Humanity,” an article by Dan Mall

    I love Dan’s Artificial Intelligence & Humanity as it mirrors a lot of my own thinking about how best to wield AI. If I embrace the role of AI as an accident generator, then I’d gladly give it all the […]

  6. 25 May, 2023

    Sometimes the job is an assembly line

    I really enjoyed this post from Dave about the different kinds of work folks can encounter. I also want to acknowledge that sometimes the job is an assembly line. Times exist when you need to slow down, think, explore, and use the […]

  7. 21 Mar, 2023

    Just do it.

    I’ve spent the last two years thinking about doing these two projects, and the actual effort to bring them into existence only took two weekends. I arrived at an important insight: if you find yourself frequently revisiting an idea you […]

  8. 15 Jun, 2022

    Lessons on creativity from Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

    This is a great read about the creative process behind my new favorite movie, Everything Everywhere All At Once. Similar to my breakdown of The Beatles’ Get Back documentary, this post analyzes the lessons learned from the creative process that wielded SUCH […]

  9. 09 Dec, 2019

    Level of Effort

    I’m always amazed by the level of effort involved in web design/development. Adding a simple button to a UI can translate to weeks or even months of work. Behind every little bit of UI is a giant iceberg of technology […]

  10. 06 Dec, 2019

    Doing It Right

    I’ve been spending a lot of time getting things right. Like, really right. One thing about working on giant design systems is that every minor shortcut, every assumption, every “that should probably do it” gets blown to smithereens in the […]

  11. 03 Dec, 2019

    What is a quick fix? – Miscelanea

    Quick fixes usually get prioritized higher than bigger issues because they promise accomplishment, satisfaction, and the idea of incremental progress. But once you factor in the communication and collaboration tax–which varies across organizations–tackling the big stuff might not end up […]

  12. 04 Nov, 2019

    A Design System Governance Process

    You can have a comprehensive design system that contains a slew of well-structured components, thorough documentation, thoughtful guidelines, and a well-considered design language. But if a design system user can’t get done what they’re trying to get done, the whole […]

  13. 11 Jun, 2019

    Rethinking designer-developer collaboration

    My design partner in crime Dan Mall and I were interviewed on the Design Better podcast about breaking down barriers between designers and developers. Give ‘er a listen here.

  14. 08 Nov, 2018

    Designer+developer workflow: more head-down work

    As part of Dan and my designer+developer collaboration series, I recorded another video building upon the work we’ve done so far. If you’re not caught up, feel free to watch the other videos: Video 1: Designer+Developer pair session Video 2: […]

  15. 23 Oct, 2018

    Chill Out and Listen with Brad Frost

    I had a great time talking with Chantastic on the React Podcast. Chantastic asks him about his recent experience learning React and the difficulty he found entering the realm of React. They talk about team communication, developing portable solutions, organizational therapy […]

  16. 16 Oct, 2018

    Only One Deliverable Matters

    The original spirit of wireframes, journey maps, comps, and the like was for exploration and to communicate ideas efficiently. They began as devices for conversation and experimentation, and in that loose context they remain as useful as ever. Over time, […]

  17. 24 Aug, 2018

    Designer+Developer Workflow: Head-Down Work

    Following up on the video Dan and I recorded that shows how we collaborate as designer and developer, I recorded a video of me doing a bit of head-down development work. Dan and I mention in our first video that […]

  18. 10 Aug, 2018

    Designer + Developer Workflow

    I’ve had the extreme privilege of collaborating on a bunch of projects with my friend Dan Mall (@danmall) over the last five and a half years. Dan is a designer. I’m a developer. And together, we’ve been refining our process to […]

  19. 24 Jun, 2018

    Reflections on building an MVP design system in 3 months

    This post lays out a lot of the first steps of creating a design system in short order. I enjoy how the author reflected on some of the initial tool and process churn as the team found their bearings. This […]

  20. 02 Feb, 2018

    Your Sketch library is not a design system

    You can write words explaining how to properly use a toaster, draw pictures of toasters, and even create more efficient ways to draw pictures of toasters. But at the end of the day, if you don’t have a functioning toaster, […]

  21. 07 Dec, 2017

    Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Prototyping (But Were Afraid To Ask)

    I have the extreme privilege of working with Jamie on client projects, and I absolutely love his approach to development. Rather than deliberating over lengthy conversations about what can and can’t be done, Jamie dives in, plays, and prototypes. As […]

  22. 14 Nov, 2017

    Self-Publishing a Book for Fun and Profit

    I wrote and self-published a book called Atomic Design, and I’m really pleased with how the whole thing turned out. I want to share my experience largely because I think the process has a lot to offer other authors who […]

  23. 15 Oct, 2017

    Rebuilding slack.com

    There are some fantastic insights contained in Mina Markham’s post about their rebuilding Slack.com. I especially loved her describing some of the thorny aspects of enhancing to CSS Grid layout, as well as seeing a before-and-after histogram of CSS specificity. […]

  24. 17 Aug, 2017

    Things you could be doing instead of designing & building that card component for the umpteenth time

    Making that card pattern more accessible Making that card pattern more responsive Making that card pattern more performant Making that card pattern more agnostic so it can handle different content patterns Making that card pattern more resilient to extreme content […]

  25. 23 Jul, 2017

    2 Frontend Designers. 12 Days. 1 Website. How We Did It

    Ian wrote about our experience launching a site for Brian Forde’s congressional campaign. One of the reasons we took the project on was that I thought it would be good for Ian to get a dose of how fast-paced the […]

  26. 21 Jul, 2017

    Launching a Campaign Website…Quickly

    I had the opportunity to make a website for Brian Forde, who is running for Congress in Orange County, California. Brian got in touch after reading my Designing an Effective Donation Form blog post, and wanted to bring that thinking to […]

  27. 21 Jun, 2017

    4 Things I Know About Pattern Libraries

    Dave shared some battle-earned insights about working in a pattern-driven manner and creating pattern libraries. I love his thoughts on the topic, and since I’ve seen this play out in my own work I thought I’d share my own thoughts […]

  28. 13 Mar, 2017

    Abstract: The Art of Design

    PSA: this series on Netflix is really good. Each episode highlights a designer in a particular field (illustration, architecture, set design, etc). The subject talks about their work, their process, and their journey, and the whole thing is incredibly well produced. I […]

  29. 30 Aug, 2016

    Shoptalk Episode 231: Book Writing Panel

    I had the great opportunity to chat with Chris, Dave, Val, Simon, and Richard about what goes into writing a book. It was fun to hear some the other authors all talk through the same challenges I’ve had (like competing with […]

  30. 28 Apr, 2016

    Copy Editing Atomic Design

    I’m in the process of wrapping up the manuscript of Atomic Design, and it’s time to begin the copy editing process. Up until this point this book project has been a solo endeavor. Writing this book in the open has been fantastic so […]