
Modern Web
Design System Engineering at Scale with Kathleen McMahon
Sep 20, 2023
Kathleen McMahon, senior design systems engineer at Northwestern Mutual and contributor to W3C Design Tokens Community Group, discusses the versatility of design systems and their impact on workflows in design and engineering. She explores her experiences in both small and large teams, highlighting the benefits of design systems in promoting consistency and efficiency while allowing flexibility for innovation. The conversation also covers the importance of collaboration, scalability, and accessibility in design system engineering.
56:08
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Quick takeaways
- Design systems streamline design and engineering workflows, promoting consistency and efficiency while allowing flexibility for innovation.
- Building a design system on the existing platform reduces reliance on external libraries and frameworks, enabling easier adoption and integration.
Deep dives
The Importance of Design Systems
A design system is a collection of patterns and efficiencies that streamline design and engineering workflows to improve the design and development experience. It can include design patterns, a component library, and a CSS framework, depending on the needs of the company or product. Design systems aim to promote consistency and efficiency, allowing designers and developers to focus on solving more complex problems rather than recreating basic components. They are flexible and ever-evolving, requiring maintenance and continuous improvement.
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